Northern Ireland 1-1 Hungary: Kyle Lafferty to the rescue after Michael McGovern howler... but talisman out of next game

• Kyle Lafferty struck a stoppage-time equaliser as 10-man Northern Ireland salvaged a point against Hungary
• Michael McGovern's goalkeeping error gifted Richard Guzmics the opener in the 74th minute
• Chris Baird was sent off with eight minutes left, having committed a pair of fouls within seconds 

By Chris Wheeler for the Daily Mail

Published: 15:43 EST, 7 September 2015 | Updated: 20:02 EST, 7 September 2015

Kyle Lafferty was Northern Ireland’s talisman again, snatching an equaliser deep into injury time at Windsor Park on Monday night night to keep his country on course for their first ever European Championship finals.

Hungary threatened to spoil the party when Richard Guzmics gave them a shock lead 15 minutes from the end, and Chris Baird was then at the centre of a bizarre sending-off when he was simultaneously shown two yellow cards.

But Lafferty pounced on a loose ball to score in the third minute of added time after former Crystal Palace goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly had failed to hold a long-range effort from Niall McGinn, sparking delirious scenes.

Northern Ireland striker Kyle Lafferty struck a stoppage-time equaliser against Hungary

Lafferty's seventh strike of the campaign was a close-range blast following up Niall McGinn's effort

Lafferty's dramatic equaliser on Monday night kept Ireland's Euro 2016 dream on course

Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill (centre, right) celebrates Lafferty's last-gasp strike

It was Lafferty’s seventh goal in eight qualifiers and his second in the last four days following a strike against the Faroe Islands on Friday — a remarkable achievement considering the Norwich striker had neither played nor trained properly since June due to a knee injury.

‘We were contemplating bringing him off at 0-0 but by the time we came to make the substitution Hungary had scored,’ revealed Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill. ‘We had to go with two up front then and didn’t want to give Hungary hope by taking off our talisman.

‘You’re looking at a player who has had a week’s training. What he’s given us over the two games is two huge goals.’ The result keeps Northern Ireland top of Group F, four points ahead of third-placed Hungary. They need two points from their last two games, at home to Greece and away to Finland next month, because they have a superior head-to-head record against the Hungarians.

O’Neill admitted that was a consideration as he chased an equaliser last night, knowing a second goal for his opponents could come back to haunt him.

Michael McGovern's goalkeeping error gifted Richard Guzmics the opener in the 74th minute

McGovern came to claim a regulation catch from Dzsudzsak's hanging free-kick

Inexplicably he let the ball slide through his gloves, leaving a disbelieving Guzmics a one-yard finish

Northern Ireland goalkeeper McGovern can't hide his disappointment after the first goal

Lafferty and full back Conor McLaughlin will miss the Greece game after they were booked. So will Baird who was shown two yellow cards moments apart in the 81st minute.

Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir booked Baird for an off-the-ball incident but played the advantage for Hungary and then spotted another bookable offence by the Derby midfielder, summoning him over to show both cards.

O’Neill said: ‘In my whole time in football, I’ve never seen a player booked twice in that situation.

‘The referee said he was booked for the first incident and the second higher up the pitch. He should have been booked for the second one but if you play advantage, how is the player to know he is being booked before committing the second one?

‘For a player to be sent off for that, it could cost us a place in the finals. We need to look at that very closely. I’m not sure you can appeal that.’ 

Chris Baird hacked down Zsolt Kalmar, having committed an off-the-ball foul seconds earlier

The defender was booked for both and, after a lengthy row with the referee, dismissed

Windsor Park was geared up for a party 10 years to the day since David Healy gave Northern Ireland a memorable victory in a World Cup qualifier against England here, a major landmark in the modern-day football history of this country. They have not been to a major finals since Billy Bingham’s heroes reached the 1986 World Cup. Indeed, six of last night’s starting line-up were not even born then.

The 10,000 supporters crammed inside the two sides of the stadium not under construction witnessed a cagey, disjointed encounter between two teams who knew what defeat might do to their chances of reaching France.

Goalscoring opportunities were few and far between until the 75th minute, when Balazs Dzsudzsak swung in a free-kick. Northern Ireland keeper Michael McGovern seemed to have it covered only to drop the ball at the feet of Guzmics, who tapped home.

No wonder the Hamilton Academical keeper threw himself to the ground and beat the turf with utter relief when Lafferty came to his side’s rescue at the death. There is no understating what that goal could mean. 

GRAHAM POLL - THE OFFICIAL LINE

It is unusual to see a player given two yellow cards in such quick succession but Cuneyt Cakir was absolutely right to send off Chris Baird. The Northern Ireland player took out one man on the edge of the Hungary box then recovered and put in a late tackle to stop the counter-attack. Baird and his team-mates were surprised but Cakir was spot on.

‘Hungary have to win their two games to stop us qualifying,’ said O’Neill. ‘If you’d offered us a four-point gap with two games to go, we’d have taken it.

‘It’s unrealistic to be disappointed because we haven’t qualified after eight games — even Spain haven’t qualified yet.’

It is more than three decades since Bingham’s side beat West Germany home and away in their qualifying campaign for Euro 84 but then agonisingly missed out on a ticket to France on goal difference.

Northern Ireland have two games left to make sure history doesn’t repeat itself.

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