Kazakhstan vs Northern Ireland. European Championship Qualifying Group H.
Astana ArenaAttendance28,458.
Report as Maksim Samorodov fires Kazakhstan to victory with a powerful effort from outside the penalty area; Northern Ireland nine points adrift of automatic qualification places in Group H with four games to play
Sunday 10 September 2023 18:24, UK
Michael O'Neill admitted Northern Ireland's miserable Euro 2024 qualifying campaign was starting to feel like Groundhog Day as he urged fans to look at the bigger picture while he tries to mould a new team.
After Thursday's 4-2 defeat to Slovenia on Thursday, it was back the old familiar feeling of a 1-0 defeat in Kazakhstan on Sunday - a fifth consecutive defeat in this campaign and the fourth 1-0 reverse during that run.
The build-up to the match was dominated by talk of injuries - Northern Ireland have been without as many as 18 different players during this campaign to date - and yet again the talk after was of a game decided by narrow margins.
Maxim Samorodov's 27th minute strike settled it, but Northern Ireland missed a golden first-half chance when Kazakhstan's goalscorer tracked back to stop Conor McMenamin prodding home when Matty Kennedy's mis-hit shot was rolling towards the goal line.
Although they did not produce anything like the attacking display they showed in Ljubljana on Thursday, O'Neill's side still ended the game with more possession and more shots than Kazakhstan, but on the wrong side of the result.
"I think it followed quite a similar pattern for us," O'Neill said. "Obviously the goal in the game is the only defining moment. We started the game well, we were dominating but our play in the final third let us down, we're lacking a little bit in that area at the minute obviously."
The absence of Steven Davis, Stuart Dallas, Corry Evans and Shane Ferguson has been a constant since before the campaign even started, but on top of that, Northern Ireland have suffered a succession of injuries, with Craig Cathcart and Ciaron Brown the latest to join the list.
That has forced O'Neill to blood young players more quickly than planned, and meant a campaign which started with such optimism has turned into a recurring nightmare, the only thing missing being the sound of Sonny and Cher's 'I Got You, Babe' heralding the start of each international window.
"It has been a little bit (like Groundhog Day)," O'Neill said. "This is our third time together as a group in terms of my time back in charge so there is a process we're having to go through a little bit, which is painful.
"For a lot of those lads, it's always nicer to come into international football for the first time and you're winning games, it's always easier to come into a team that's doing well.
"I reflect back to the lead-in to Euro 2016 and you had the likes of Stuart Dallas and Paddy McNair come into the team and we were always going well. It's always an easier process.
"Now we're trying to introduce players into a team when the results are not so good so it's more challenging for the players."
It was a fifth consecutive defeat in this campaign, and the fourth time in the last five Michael O'Neill's injury-ravaged side have been unable to muster a goal.
Northern Ireland can only envy the progress of a side ranked 40 places below them, with this Kazakhstan's fourth win in Group H, keeping them in the thick of the qualification fight.
The hope is that those younger players benefit further down the line, particularly when the day comes that the senior players Northern Ireland have leaned on for so long are no longer around - a time that may well arrive by the start of the World Cup qualifying campaign in March 2025.
"We just have to play through this period," O'Neill added. "I think the team in many ways is developing. People may argue against that based on the results, but I have to look at the bigger picture in terms of where the team has to go in the next 12 to 18 months.
"We just have to persevere with what we're doing. I think a lot of what we're doing with the team is the right way to approach, but in this campaign we've had four 1-0 defeats and the margins in all the games have been very narrow."
O'Neill has more than enough capital - both within the dressing room and beyond it - to avoid coming under pressure, but this losing run and the injury crisis which has contributed to it are becoming a real test of Northern Ireland's resolve.
The qualifying campaign has gone so wrong the Green and White Army might even be looking forward to next year's Nations League - a competition which has rarely warmed Northern Irish hearts.
This was another match where little separated the sides - with Northern Ireland having more of the ball and more shots - but O'Neill's men did not get the rub of the green on the Astana Arena's artificial surface.
O'Neill promised adjustments to make his side more compact after Thursday's 4-2 loss to Slovenia but as they tightened up Kazakhstan were able to frustrate the visitors, with nothing like the same attacking vigour seen against Slovenia on show.
George Saville's ambitious second-minute strike was as close as Northern Ireland got to goal in the opening half-hour as Conor McMenamin, the star of the show on Thursday, found Besiktas left-back Nuraly Alip a much more difficult customer than Slovenia's Erik Janza.
Kazakhstan looked the more threatening, with Baktiyor Zainutdinov hitting a low drive narrowly wide before Trai Hume was required to make a strong block to keep out Yerkin Tapalov's shot.
But moments later the hosts led as Samorodov skipped away from the returning Dan Ballard, creating space to arrow a shot into the bottom corner of the net from 20 yards out, prompting a prolonged inquiry between Saville and Jonny Evans.
Kazakhstan threatened again. Bailey Peacock-Farrell failed to gather a high ball under pressure from Abzal Beysebekov before Paddy McNair cleared the danger, then Ballard made a vital block to prevent Samorodov going clean through.
Having survived the danger, Northern Ireland contrived to miss the best chance of the night before half-time.
Conor Washington flicked the ball perfectly into the path of Matty Kennedy but the Kilmarnock man struggled to get it out of his feet, rolling a tame cross-shot beyond goalkeeper Igor Shatskiy.
McMenamin came racing in to try to prod home, but goalscorer Samorodov beat him to the ball before Alip hooked it away.
O'Neill sent on Jordan Thompson and Paul Smyth to replace McMenamin and Saville at the break, and Northern Ireland soon threatened again with Shatskiy doing well to deny Washington as he got a flick on Shea Charles' shot.
Jordan Jones replaced Kennedy and Northern Ireland began to build pressure after the hour. Charles won a foot race to win the ball in the corner of the box and teed up Washington, but his shot was charged down.
Northern Ireland kept Kazakhstan pegged back for most of the final 20 minutes, but as has been the case too many times, the clear chance they needed to equalise proved elusive.
Kazakhstan's next game is a Euro 2024 Qualifier against Denmark in Copenhagen on October 14 - kick-off 7.45pm.
Northern Ireland's next outing is against San Marino in a Euro 2024 Qualifier at Windsor Park on October 14 - kick-off 2pm.
