Trai Hume’s first Northern Ireland goal helped them to a 2-0 win over Slovakia which keeps their World Cup qualifying campaign on track.
Patrik Hrosovsky’s 18th-minute own goal rewarded Northern Ireland for a strong start but, after wasting two outstanding chances to double their lead either side of the break, they endured some nervy moments before Hume lifted the ball over the stranded Martin Dubravka with 10 minutes to go.
Michael O’Neill had refused to call this a must-win, but the reality was they needed all three points to keep pace in a tight group in which Northern Ireland, Slovakia and Germany all have six points from three games.
It was reward for a strong performance, particularly in the first half, but the man at heart of it, captain Conor Bradley, picked up a cheap late yellow card which will rule him out of Monday’s visit of Germany.
Bradley had looked like a man on a mission from the start as Northern Ireland played with energy and desire and it was the Liverpool man who sparked the move for the opening goal.
He picked out Ethan Galbraith in space inside the box, and the Swansea midfielder pulled back a low cross which the hapless Hrosovsky turned into his own net.
Three of Northern Ireland’s five goals against Slovakia in their six meetings to date have been own goals.
With half an hour gone, Galbraith picked Ondrej Duda’s pocket and though he could not find the run of Jamie Reid, the ball broke to Justin Devenny, whose strike was pushed around the post by Burnley’s Dubravka.
Bradley surged forward again the 35th minute and cut the ball inside to Shea Charles. His route to goal was blocked but it deflected to Reid in front of goal. Stretching, the Stevenage man could only put a glorious chance over.
Bradley looked just as keen at the start of the second half, twisting and turning on the edge of the box before sending a shot over within seconds of the restart, then slicing a shot wide from the edge of the box.
Northern Ireland wanted a 57th-minute penalty when Shea Charles ran into a Slovakia sandwich but the appeals were rightly waved away.
Seconds later the ball was in the Slovakian net but Reid was offside as he got a toe on a Charles shot which looked to have been goal-bound regardless.
It was a second clear chance for Northern Ireland to gain some breathing space in an increasingly frantic game, with a yellow card for Daniel Ballard a result of rising temperatures.
The hosts had lost their control and should have lost the lead in the 65th minute as Middlesbrough forward David Strelec got clear of Paddy McNair, only to poke the ball wide.
There was then another hugely-frustrating moment for Northern Ireland in the 76th minute when Bradley tussled with Lukas Haraslin on the wing to bring a booking which rules him out of Monday’s showdown with Germany.
But few were worrying about that four minutes later when Dubravka, unconvincing in commanding his area for much of the night, punched the ball weakly and it landed for Hume to lift it back over him and into an unguarded net.
