O’Neill’s men see off Norway to stay second

Northern Ireland reached the double-figure mark in World Cup qualification points last night and retained second spot in Group C with a pair of first-half goals against Norway.

A 2-0 victory moved Michael O’Neill’s play-off seeking side on to 10 points at the halfway stage and extended their unbeaten run at Windsor Park to eight competitive games.

Jamie Ward’s goal after 87 seconds set them on their way and QPR’s Conor Washington fired in a third international goal, all of which have come in his three Belfast starts, in the 32nd minute.

O’Neill had stressed the 10-point landmark was key in terms of his squad’s mindset towards possibly reaching Russia and they now head to Azerbaijan in the summer knowing a playoff berth remains very much on the cards, with the team continuing to show no sign of resting on their laurels after reaching the Euro 2016 knock-out stages.

Holland have sacked coach Danny Blind in the wake of their World Cup qualifying loss to Bulgaria.

The Dutch Football Association (KNVB) has called time on the former defender’s reign after only 20 months and 18 matches.

Saturday’s 2-0 defeat in Sofia was Holland’s second in their opening five games in World Cup qualifying group A and left them in fourth place in the pool, six points behind leaders France.