Norway scored three times in the opening 20 minutes as Northern Ireland’s makeshift defence was made to pay in a 5-1 Nations League defeat at Windsor Park.
In Ian Baraclough’s first home game in charge, Paddy McNair’s fifth-minute strike cancelled out Mohamed Elyounoussi’s opener only for Erling Haaland and Alexander Sorloth to put Norway 3-1 up at half-time.
⚽️ FT: A tough night for us ends in a 5-1 win for Norway #GAWApic.twitter.com/PkLzcp0URE— Northern Ireland (@NorthernIreland) September 7, 2020
Romania earned a narrow 3-2 victory in a hard-fought match with Austria in Northern Ireland’s group, Alexandru Maxim’s 69th-minute goal proving decisive.
Scotland overcame a difficult makeshift Czech Republic team to win 2-1 in Olomouc in group B2.
After the hosts’ squad had been stood down amid coronavirus concerns, the team contained nine debutants but managed to take a surprise lead through Jakub Pesek in the 11th minute.
FULL TIME | Czech Republic 1-2 Scotland.— Scotland National Team (@ScotlandNT) September 7, 2020
Lyndon Dykes levelled with his first goal for Scotland in the 27th minute before Ryan Christie scored his second spot-kick in two games just after the half-time break.
Israel and Slovakia played out a 1-1 draw, substitute Ilay Elmkies with a late Israel equaliser to cancel out Michal Duris’ goal.
Elsewhere, Italy went top of group A1 with a 1-0 victory over Holland, Inter Milan midfielder Nicolo Barella heading home on the stroke of half-time.
#NationsLeague— Italy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@azzurri) September 7, 2020
In the same group, Poland secured a 2-1 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina with goals from Kamil Glik and West Brom winger Kamil Grosicki.
In group C4, Belarus secured an important 2-1 win in Kazakhstan while Lithuania won 1-0 in Albania.
