Abat Aimbetov scored the only goal of the game to help Kazakhstan produce one of the narrow football scores of the weekend in Euro 2024 qualifying. After two losses, Michael O’Neill’s team needed a win badly to get their season going, but they were defeated by a thrilling 88th-minute goal from substitute Abat Aimbetov. This outcome is yet another devastating setback for Northern Ireland, who has only three points from their first four games after Friday’s 1-0 loss in Denmark and a win over San Marino. The incapacity of Northern Ireland’s youthful team, which has been devoid of experience due to injuries to key players, to defeat a team ranked 50 places lower than them at home was a stark illustration of their weaknesses.
Another blank means that Northern Ireland has scored only twice in its past nine home qualifying games, with their aspirations being thwarted by the poor play in the final third. With their third straight win, Kazakhstan now shares the group lead with Finland, who earlier on Monday destroyed San Marino 6-0. This victory furthers Kazakhstan’s aspiration to qualify for a major event for the first time.
Another blank means that Northern Ireland has scored only twice in its past nine home qualifying games, with their aspirations being thwarted by the poor play in the final third. With their third straight win, Kazakhstan now shares the group lead with Finland, who earlier on Monday destroyed San Marino 6-0. This victory furthers Kazakhstan’s aspiration to qualify for a major event for the first time. O’Neill had already discussed how hard it was to change his team’s mentality from the primarily defensive approach they had on Friday in Copenhagen to play on the front foot at home, but even though they consistently held Kazakhstan at bay for extended stretches, there were only sporadic threats.
Trai Hume missed an early opportunity from the outside of the box, and Dion Charles couldn’t keep a shot down after Shea Charles had set him up. However, Maksim Samorodov of Kazakhstan had perhaps the finest opportunity of the half when he outran Paddy McNair and twisted inside Hume before shooting from eight yards out with just Peacock-Farrell to beat. Northern Ireland had a good response. Abzal Beysebekov’s deflection allowed Isaac Price’s effort from the edge of the box to loop around the custodian and miss the post by a narrow margin. McNair went back into the danger zone from the ensuing corner, but Craig Cathcart could not stop it from barely four yards away.
Northern Ireland didn’t threaten again until the 44th minute as the speed quickly dropped and it appeared like they were running out of new ideas. George Saville received the ball from Dion Charles, but the Millwall midfielder, who has 46 caps but no international goals, headed the ball over from a close range. After the break, Northern Ireland’s problems persisted. Early in the half, Saville flashed the ball over the goal face; the cross just required a touch, but no one was available to add it.
The mood at Windsor Park was dull, and only a small group of Kazakhstan supporters could be heard above the rumblings from the Kop. Jonny Evans was replaced by Conor McMenamin, who had an angled shot blocked by Igor Shatskiy. However, Kazakhstan will have to deal with late killer blows from Aimbetov, who rode Cathcart’s challenge and took advantage when a sliding McNair got in the way of Ciaron Brown to score and shock the home crowd.
With play-offs excluded, Northern Ireland has gone without a goal in seven of its previous eight home World Cup/European Championship qualifying games. For the first time ever in a major tournament qualification as a UEFA nation (World Cup/EUROs), Kazakhstan has preserved consecutive clean sheets following their 3-0 victory over San Marino last time out.
“Losing a goal at the moment in the game we did was frustrating. We missed two or three tackles that we shouldn’t have missed, and as a result, we lost a game that we didn’t appear to be losing. It was a bad goal to concede. I doubt we produced as much as we might have. We’ve lost three games by a solitary goal, and we’re upset with each of the goals,” Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill said. “We’re in a phase where we’ve got older players that we need to hang onto for another year or two, and younger players that are probably not really ready to play consistently at this level. The defeat is disappointing and leaves us in a position we don’t want to be in the table.”
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