Petrov strike sinks N.Ireland

Martin Petrov's first half strike was enough to give Bulgaria a 1-0 win over Northern Ireland at Windsor Park.

Worthington's men beaten in Belfast

Martin Petrov's first half strike was enough to give Bulgaria a 1-0 win over Northern Ireland at Windsor Park. In a dire game played in even worse conditions, the Manchester City winger lit up proceedings with a classy piece of skill and a lucky finish off Jonny Evans to separate the sides. There was plenty of honest endeavour on display from the hosts who could have snatched a point late on when a clever free-kick routine involving Chris Brunt and David Healy saw the latter smash his shot over when he may have done better. Nigel Worthington had Maik Taylor to thank for keeping the score at 1-0 when he saved smartly from Zdravko Lazarov and Alexander Tunchev as Bulgaria dominated the majority of the encounter. Healy, looking to put the frustrations of life on the Fulham periphery aside, had the first chance of the game as he turned and shot from the edge of the area but his effort went wide. Bulgaria went close at the other end when Petrov floated in a free-kick but Lazarov's header was deflected wide for a corner. Healy again tried his luck again with an ambitious effort from long range but the ball dropped comfortably into goalkeeper Georgi Petkov's arms. Berbatov seemed up for the challenge despite the low-key nature of the fixture but he was continually frustrated and one promising run was abruptly halted by Nottingham Forest midfielder Sammy Clingan. Stanislav Angelov got in a good shot from 20 yards but Taylor's goal was not threatened. Taylor was called into serious action for the first time after 24 minutes when he palmed over a strong Alexander Tunchev header from a well-flighted Petrov free-kick. Bulgaria began to warm to the task midway through the first half and another Petrov cross was just inches too high for Berbatov. Bulgaria should have claimed the lead nine minutes before the interval when Berbatov set up Todor Yanchev but his weak shot was blocked. Lazarov had another chance as the ball came back in but he completely miskicked in front of goal.

Opener

The visitors deservedly went ahead after Petrov skipped past Keith Gillespie on the left and homed in on an exposed Taylor. The goalkeeper could do little as the City man fired across his body and Evans' desperate attempt to clear succeeded only in diverting the ball into the net. Bulgaria continued to make most of the running in the second half and Worthington made a further change just before the hour in bringing on Scunthorpe's Martin Paterson for Lafferty. Petrov shot from a free-kick soon after but Taylor saved an attempt that was probably going wide anyway. Paterson's first contribution was to win a free-kick on the edge of the area but Healy's effort was deflected over. Brunt then drilled in an effort from wide on the right but Petkov saved easily. Berbatov, despite a quiet evening, remained a threatening presence and almost set up Ivelin Popov. Nikolay Dimitrov also shot just wide from 18 yards. Healy had two late chances to equalise in the dying moments but he shot straight at substitute goalkeeper Dimitar Ivankov before firing over.

Northern Ireland	Team Statistics	Bulgaria
0	Goals	1
0	1st Half Goals	1
3	Shots on Target	4
3	Shots off Target	7
2	Blocked Shots	3
4	Corners	6
19	Fouls	15
4	Offsides	4
1	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0
66.9	Passing Success	74.9
16	Tackles	11
62.5	Tackles Success	72.7
45.4	Possession	54.6
54.9	Territorial Advantage	45.1