Northern Ireland 1 - Russia 0

Belfast was the site of this month's only FIFA World Cup qualifier as Russia came to play hosts Northern Ireland.  The match was originally scheduled for 26 March 2013, but the snow postponed the match on that occasion, forcing the match to be rescheduled.  Northern Ireland defender Gareth McAulay snuffed out two early Russian goalscoring opportunities with well-timed tackles in his own penalty area, but it was clear that Russia would be the side to hold the majority of possession.  Alexander Ayunkov soon thereafter had to save Russia with two blocked shots in the same sequence.  Russia dominated possession, but Northern Ireland created the best chance of the half so far off a quick restart.  Jamie Ward took the ball up the center of the pitch and unleashed a blast from twenty-one yards that crashed flush into the far post with the rebound ricocheting off a Russian defender and back to the goalkeeper.  Northern Ireland soon thereafter found a goal when a long ball bounced over Niall McGinn's head.  McGinn ran the ball down and got a cross off as the ball was about to go over the end line.  Martin Paterson made a strong run into the box and rose to meet the ball with his head before Vasili Berezutskiy, crushing a goal and giving the hosts a 1-0 lead.  Northern Ireland took the 1-0 lead into their locker room.

Paterson continued to be dangerous in his lone striker role in the second period, but he was only able to add more offsides violations to his goal from the first period.  The second half was much less action-packed than the first, and Russia did not have the proper attitude to mount a comeback.  The rain that began to fall in the last five minutes could not dampen the lively crowd as Northern Ireland looked to close out their first victory in their past fourteen competitive matches.  They would see out the end of the match quite easily, and Northern Ireland deservedly win 1-0.

Portugal 14 pts +6
Russia 12 pts +6
Israel 11 pts +7
N. Ireland 6 pts -3
Azerbaijan 4 pts -6
Luxembourg 3 pts -10

Goals
Northern Ireland
Martin Paterson 43

Match Reports:
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/news/newsid=2152393/index.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2393753/Northern-Ireland-1-Russia-0-Martin-Paterson-stuns-Fabio-Capello-Michael-ONeill-claims-win.html

Highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haLKfr39Rr4