Baraclough can count on a Whyte knight to earn point

ROMANIA 1 N IRELAND 1

A LATE header from Gavin Whyte earned ten man Northern Ireland an unlikely draw and their first-ever Nations League point after a draw in Romania. The visitors were frustrated for much of the night, falling behind when George Puscas poked Romania in front after 25 minutes, and then losing Josh Magennis to two yellow cards before half-time. Bailey Peacock-Farrell made a string of top-class saves to keep his side in it in the second half before substitutes Kyle Lafferty and Whyte combined to snatch an equaliser four minutes from the end. There was still time for Peacock-Farrell to make another fine save, pushing Denis Alibec’s shot on to the crossbar. It was a cagey beginning, with debutant Daniel Ballard — in for the absent Jonny Evans — looking composed, but the match was frequently interrupted by the referee Francois Letexier, who awarded 22 free-kicks in the first half alone. It was from one of those in the 25th minute that Romania scored. Northern Ireland lined up to defend a cross but Rangers attacker Ianis Hagi centred for Nicolae Stanciu. Peacock-Farrell did well to get down as the ball flew through the crowd towards the bottom corner, but could only push it to Vlad Chiriches, who squared for Puscas to tap home into an empty net. Magennis could have considered himself unlucky to have been shown yellow 13 minutes in after a tangle with Nicusor Bancu, and there was not much more in the second incident as Alexandru Maxim made the most of an arm across his shoulder. The Irish were on the back foot throughout the second half as Peacock-Farrell took centre stage. Puscas should have doubled the lead when picked out by Alexandru Cicaldau’s cross and perhaps thought he had before Peacock-Farrell got a strong hand to his header. Baraclough had sent on Whyte and Lafferty in the hope of snatching something, and they did just that with four minutes of normal time remaining, with Lafferty heading on a long ball into the box and Whyte running through to nod home.