Northern Ireland 1-0 New Zealand
The Green and White Army showed promising signs in their thrilling live betting win over the All Whites, and it will certainly keep their sports betting fans excited for what’s to come when the Europe World Cup Qualifiers resume next week.
Indeed, the battle with New Zealand was just a warm-up, but Northern Ireland had a lot of positive takeaways in a game that saw them delight online gambling throughout.
The scoreboard might suggest otherwise, though it doesn’t really tell the whole story of how the hosts could’ve had three goals as they mercilessly ripped apart the New Zealand defence right from the opening period.
Liam Boyce’s sixth-minute goal was proof of the dangerous offence that Northern Ireland displayed in the game.
It was the first real attack from Michael O’Neill’s men and it immediately paid off with Boyce firing his first international goal for Northern Ireland following a solo effort that saw him evade Tommy Smith and Tom Doyle.
Josh Magennis had the chance to double their advantage three minutes later, but an excellent save from New Zealand keeper Stefan Marinovic prevented him from doing so.
Despite failing to add more to his tally, Boyce made sure to make the most of his opportunity and continuously threatened the visitors in 45 minutes of action.
The All Whites settled into their rhythm midway through the first half, but they only had few opportunities to score. They played with more resolve in the second and looked more dangerous; however, it didn’t help them that they struggled to keep possession.
The result was as expected for a team ranked 28th in the world, and it will give Northern Ireland a boost of confidence when they visit Azerbaijan next week where they will seek to close the gap from Germany in the Group C qualifiers.
For New Zealand who just cracked into the Top 100 at 95th, their performance was a good showing. Nonetheless, Coach Anthony Hudson still has a lot to improve and tweak on his side as they prepare for the FIFA Confederations Cup.
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