Northern Ireland’s Euro 2016 campaign got off to a bad start in Nice this evening after they were defeated 1-0 by Poland.
The game the North’s first ever European Championship match didn’t go to plan for the men in green as the Polish took all three points in their Group C opener. The match which was a rather drab affair saw few chances from both sides, with Poland dominating the vast majority of possession without really supplying an end product. Northern Ireland were heavily reliant on a long ball game with talisman Kyle Lafferty feeding off scarp’s.
The decisive moment came in the 51st minute when Milik slotted home to give them a deserved lead. The North never really looked like pulling one back and were fairly nullified by a stubborn Poland team who managed to hang on to claim the three points.
Michael O’Neill’s men now have an uphill task to reach the last 16 as they have tough fixtures against Germany and Ukraine to come.