MX23RW : Wednesday, November 27 10:01:07| >> :60:229:229:
[monks data]
Portugal national football team
World Cup | Qualifiers
Oct 16, 2012 at 8.45pm UK
 
Northern Ireland national football team

1-1

Helder Postiga denies Northern Ireland famous win in Portugal

Northern Ireland lead for a large portion of the game but are denied by a famous win in Portugal by Helder Postiga 11 minutes from time.

Helder Postiga struck late on to prevent Northern Ireland picking up a historic win in Portugal this evening.

The home side dominated the ball in the opening half at a wet Estadio do Dragao but failed to test Roy Carroll in the Ireland goal, with Manchester United's Jonny Evans clearing the danger on multiple occasions.

Ireland then took the lead on the half-hour mark when Evans released Lafferty who in turn held the ball up before feeding Niall McGinn.

Niall McGinn scores for Northern Ireland© PA Photos

The Aberdeen man's first touch took him past the Portugal defence and he finished with a lifted effort over Rui Patricio.

The underdogs almost shot themselves in the foot minutes later when Craig Cathcart hooked a centre onto his own crossbar but they made it to half-time in the lead.

Cristiano Ronaldo, who was making his 100th international appearance, had his first real opportunity in the 58th minute when Nani crossed for the Real Madrid man, who was denied by the outstretched leg of Carroll.

Ireland then wasted the opportunity to counter-attack, allowing Portugal to go forward and they had a trio of chances within a minute.

First, Nani got to the byline and his cross was inches from being poked in for an own goal before Ruben Amorin forced Carroll into a save and Steven Davis sliced horribly just over his own crossbar.

In the next 20 minutes the visitors managed to restrict Portugal to shots from range but the third-ranked side in world football finally broke through with 11 minutes remaining.

Bruno Alves's deep cross was headed back across goal by Silvestre Varela and Nani miscued but number 23 Postiga was there to squeeze home his 23rd international goal.

The hosts pelted the Ireland goal in the remaining minutes and substitute Eder wasted the best opening by failing to get a touch on Varela's centre.

A point keeps Ireland fourth in Group F while Portugal move level Israel with Israel in second, five points behind Russia, to whom they lost on Friday.

ID:50196: cacheID:50196:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:4514:No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Niall McGinn scores for Northern Ireland
Read Next:
Half-Time Report: Northern Ireland lead Portugal
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS

Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Netherlands Netherlands32107
Q Senegal flag Senegal32016
3 Ecuador flag Ecuador31114
4 Qatar Qatar30030

Group B

TeamPWDLPTS
Q England flag England32107
Q United States USA31205
3 Iran Iran31023
4 Wales flag Wales30121

Group C

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Argentina Argentina32016
Q Poland Poland31114
3 Mexico Mexico31114
4 Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia31023

Group D

TeamPWDLPTS
Q France France32016
Q Australia Australia32016
3 Tunisia Tunisia31114
4 Denmark Denmark30121

Group E

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Japan Japan32016
Q Spain Spain31114
3 Germany Germany31114
4 Costa Rica flag Costa Rica31023

Group F

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Morocco Morocco32107
Q Croatia Croatia31205
3 Belgium Belgium31114
4 Canada Canada30030

Group G

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Brazil Brazil32016
Q Switzerland Switzerland32016
3 Cameroon flag Cameroon31114
4 Serbia Serbia30121

Group H

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Portugal Portugal32016
Q Republic of Korea South Korea31114
3 Uruguay flag Uruguay31114
4 Ghana flag Ghana31023


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!