Controversial penalty gives Switzerland away win

Ricardo Rodriguez scored the only goal from the penalty spot, helping Switzerland beat host Northern Ireland 1-0, gaining a big advantage in the European play-off.

Northern Ireland 0-1 Switzerland playoff WC 2018

Goal: Rodriguez 58'

Northern Ireland qualified for Euro 2016 and finished second in a group that included the Czech Republic and Norway. However, against Switzerland, a team with more individual talent and better organisation, the Great Britain team were completely outclassed, despite playing at home.

The blue team only played evenly in the first 10 minutes, when Switzerland were still probing and did not push up their formation. For the rest of the match, Northern Ireland played defensively, ceding control of the ball to their opponents.

Rodriguez's joy after scoring.

Post-match statistics showed that Northern Ireland only had 35% possession and had five shots, less than a third of the visitors' 17 shots on goal.

Switzerland pressed the field and almost opened the score in the 18th minute, if it weren't for goalkeeper Michael McGovern's quick reflexes after the away team's striker's close-range shot.

In the 46th minute, Xherdan Shaqiri thought he had scored when he received the ball in an open position on the right corner. The Stoke City player, after a moment of control, curled the ball into the far corner, but the ball missed the goal by a hair.

Rodriguez's penalty kick.

Despite pressing the field, Switzerland had to rely on a controversial situation to open the score. In the 58th minute, Shaqiri jumped up and hooked the ball from outside the penalty area. The referee judged that the Northern Ireland defender had handled the ball. On the 11m mark, captain Ricardo Rodriguez made no mistake and opened the score.

After the goal, Switzerland no longer maintained the rapid pace of attack, but actively retreated to wait for counter-attacks. However, no more goals were scored.

However, the 1-0 away win has given Vladimir Petkovic and his team a huge advantage in the race for a play-off ticket to Russia for the 2018 World Cup. The second leg will take place three days later.

According to VNE