Northern Ireland continue flying start to Nations League with big win over Ukraine

[p]Despite dominating possession from the first whistle, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ukraine/j1JtDMwo/"]Ukraine[/a] were twice caught out by the visitors in a frustrating first half for Andrea Maldera’s side.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/northern-ireland/lQADNSWu/"]Northern Ireland[/a]’s opener can only be described as scrappy, but [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/brown-ciaron/4AgLN9pO/"]Ciaron Brown[/a] didn’t care as he grabbed his first international goal, scrambling home via the post following a deep corner inside the opening 10 minutes.[/b][/p][p]In contrast, their second - which came midway through the half - was a thing of beauty, and also came at an opportune time as Ukraine were starting to build up some steam.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/morrison-kieran/dWFhj19g/"]Kieran Morrison[/a]’s dangerous first-time cross was begging to be attacked, and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/price-isaac/j7NoKdXB/"]Isaac Price[/a] obliged, timing his run perfectly to plant a perfect header beyond [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/riznyk-dmytro/b3DGuTi6/"]Dmytro Riznyk[/a].[/b][/p][p]Ukraine looked for a response before the interval, and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sarapiy-eduard/hWoBMlaF/"]Eduard Sarapiy[/a] went closest to halving the arrears with a long-range strike that looked destined for the top corner, only for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/charles-pierce/0bqig2i7/"]Pierce Charles[/a] to deny him with a fingertip save.[/p][image alt="Momentum" id="e0c6905c-b1dd-4de5-a37a-9e42b9c87097" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="77958d39-bbd2-473b-8ae5-573652361684" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p]The game’s pattern continued after the break, with Ukraine bossing the tempo only to get caught out at the other end once more as Brown doubled his tally.[/p][p][b]Much like his first effort, the second owed a lot to comical defending as Riznyk failed to deal with his speculative flick-on, allowing it to slip through his legs and trickle over the line. [/b][/p][p]Despite the deficit, Ukraine pushed to get back into their game, but their disappointing evening was summed up when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ponomarenko-matvii/baOTGawp/"]Matviy Ponomarenko[/a]’s fiercely struck drive hit the outside of the post.[/p][p]Ultimately, Zbirna were unable to find even a consolation as Northern Ireland cruised to victory.[/p][p]With the two sides coming into the game level on points at the top of the group, they both remain well-placed to push for promotion, but Michael O’Neill’s men now have a three-point cushion over tonight’s opponents and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/hungary/MTVhw6Go/"]Hungary[/a] at the halfway point. [/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/brown-ciaron/4AgLN9pO/"]Ciaron Brown[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/northern-ireland/lQADNSWu/"]Northern Ireland[/a]) [/b][/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/northern-ireland-lQADNSWu/ukraine-j1JtDMwo/?mid=Kf7EpXpS"]Catch up on the match here.[/a][/b][/p][image alt="Match stats" id="16e50f40-d7ab-4994-87c7-6a7b81e2cc7e" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="4db1839c-795e-49c4-8be4-8117071c66a8" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /]