Losing battle for Northern Ireland
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Northern Ireland 1 Sweden 2
Tottenham's Gerard McMahon gave the small Belfast crowd its only chance to cheer just six minutes from the end of this difficult contest at Windsor Park last night.
He headed his second international goal from a Steve Lomas free-kick to restore some pride for a makeshift Northern Ireland side, who struggled after McMahon and Keith Rowland missed early chances.
Martin Dahlin put the Swedes in front in the 15th minute.The former Sheffield Wednesday full-back Roland Nilsson sent Jonas Thern free on the right and his low cross was turned into the net by Dahlin from five yards out.
Dahlin could have had a second goal after 35 minutes when his fierce drive was deflected wide, and five minutes before the break, Gary Sundgrun headed just over from a corner by the former Arsenal midfielder Stefan Schwarz.
Northern Ireland showed greater urgency after the interval but Klas Ingesson caught them on the break in the 58th minute. The former Sheffield Wednesday midfielder skipped past two challenges to score.
NORTHERN IRELAND: Davison (Bolton); Patterson (Luton), Worthington (Leeds), Hill (Leicester), Hunter (Wrexham), Morrow (Arsenal), McCarthy (Port Vale), Lomas (Man City), McMahon (Tottenham), O'Neill (Hibernian), Rowland (West Ham). Substitutes: Quinn (Blackpool) for Worthington, 77; O'Boyle (St Johnstone) for O'Neill, 65.
SWEDEN: B Andersson (Orgryte), R Nilsson (Helsingborg), P Andersson (Borussia Monchengladbach), Bjorklund (Vicenza), Sundgren (AIK Solna), Schwarz (Fiorentina), Wilbran (Helsingborg), Ingesson (Bari), Thern (Roma), Dahlin (Borussia Monchengladbach), K Andersson (Bari). Substitutes: Zetterberg (Anderlecht) for Wibran, h-t; Pettersson (Borussia Monchengladbach) for Andersson, 58; Larsson (Feyenoord) for Dahlin, 88.
Referee: H Dallas (Scotland).
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments