Switzerland 2-0 Northern Ireland
Saturday night in Geneva and a World Cup 2022 qualifying encounter in which my SBOTOP colleague – not to mention the World Cup 2022 betting odds – predicted a rollover in favour of Switzerland.
The surprise and spirited Euro 2020 quarter-finalists held a three-point advantage over Northern Ireland going into the Group C meeting and were looking to eat into European champions Italy’s six-point lead at the top of the table.
Despite a 32-place difference in the FIFA World Rankings, the visitors could not be ruled out though.
After all, they were only effectively one victory away in the race for a play-off spot.
Manager Ian Baraclough also knew his players – while fully aware of the huge importance of the game to their qualification hopes – hardly needed an incentive given it was the Swiss and a very dodgy penalty which cost them a place at the last World Cup at the expense of their opponents.
With both nations needing the points, World Cup 2022 highlights duly followed.
Sadly for the Irish, so did another dubious decision – although the gap in class was clear long before the end of a contest the home side could have won by a bigger margin.
Highlights of the game
Switzerland were without talismanic midfielder Granit Xhaka which meant the onus again fell on Xherdan Shaqiri to provide creativity and technical quality with the attack spearheaded by Breel Embolo, a lively figure at Euro 2020.
Northern Ireland received a boost with trio Craig Cathcart, Steven Davis and Stuart Dallas all passed fit.
Switzerland had failed to break the deadlock in a goalless draw against Northern Ireland earlier in the campaign in Belfast and were struggling again in the Stade de Geneve, despite controlling long spells.
Then defender Jamal Lewis was shown a harsh second yellow card seven minutes before the break and Northern Ireland’s qualification hopes were realistically all but over.
After an early chance for both sides – Denis Zakaria had a goal ruled out by VAR while Conor Washington shot straight at Yann Sommer – the hosts had been kept at bay.
Lewis made a goal-saving tackle before two last-ditch blocks denied Shaqiri.
Yet just when it seemed they may get back into the dressing room on level terms, a mix-up proved costly in the third minute of stoppage time.
That was between Jordan Thompson and Cathcart which let Embolo through and he fed Steven Zuber, who slotted home.
Against 10 men, the openings began to arrive for the hosts in the second period and a number of good chances came and went before the unmarked Christian Fassnacht sealed the victory by finishing from a good pass by Embolo.
Again the goal came deep in stoppage time, again a key time to score.
A win for the Swiss realistically removes all potential doubts about the second spot in Group C.
Six points behind Switzerland with three matches to play, it will certainly take a major turnaround now for Northern Ireland to reach their first World Cup since 1986.
Key statistics
Switzerland absolutely dominated the match from a statistical sense. They controlled 72 per cent of possession and had a whopping 27 shots on goal, with eight on target. Northern Ireland, on the other hand, could only muster two shots, with one on target.
Zuber was the star of the show for the Swiss as he had a team-leading six shots and scored his 10th career goal for his country.
What’s next?
The Swiss meet Lithuania next – on Tuesday night – and then go to Italy next month before hosting Bulgaria (November 15) in their final qualifier.
Northern Ireland, meanwhile, are in Sofia to face Bulgaria themselves on Tuesday evening and conclude their qualifying campaign with back-to-back home matches against Lithuania and Italy in mid-November.
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