Szoboszlai's Hungary held to 0-0 at Windsor Park as Northern Ireland keep clean sheet in Nations League

Northern Ireland held Hungary to a 0-0 draw at Windsor Park in Belfast on Monday in the Uefa Nations League, with Dominik Szoboszlai's side unable to find a way through. Visiting goalkeeper Pierce Charles was barely tested, with Hungary's first shot on target arriving only in the 90th minute.

Northern Ireland had kept back-to-back clean sheets in the Nations League, having returned to the second tier of the Uefa Nations League after successive campaigns in League C. In Tbilisi last week, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Georgia were frustrated by a player of the match performance from visiting goalkeeper Pierce Charles that featured saving a penalty from the Ballon d'Or nominee in a 1-0 win. Hungary became the eighth opposition team to fail to score at Windsor Park in the past 10 games, with only Germany and Switzerland bucking the trend.

Manager Michael O'Neill emphasised the defensive performance in his post-match comments, saying: "There's a lot for us to be positive about," and adding: "It's two clean sheets in the group, eight clean sheets out of ten games [in Belfast]. "I am proud of how they played tonight, they couldn't have given us any more." He also spoke of a "snobbery" about the way his team play in his interview with BBC Sport NI and his focus on shape, organisation and hard work off the ball was evident in Monday's display.

Daniel Ballard missed the game after picking up a hamstring injury in Tbilisi and has been ruled out for the remainder of the window; he was replaced by Ruairi McConville, who operated in a back-three alongside Ciaron Brown and Tom Atcheson. Brown, who started in Tbilisi and again against Hungary, was singled out by O'Neill, who said: "Ciaron has been terrific now for quite some time, really, to be honest," adding: "Ciaron is very reliable. He's playing his club football at the moment in League One, he's a better player than that. "He's left-sided. He's competitive. He has a long throw. He has a lot of attributes that, for me, means he should be playing at a higher level than the club level he's playing."

Offensively, Northern Ireland struggled to create openings; Opta recorded their expected goals (xG) on Monday as 0.55, their lowest in a Nations League game since September 2022. The side's record goalscorer David Healy highlighted a lack of threat from set-pieces and the influence of the opposition keeper, saying on BBC NI: "The set pieces were really poor," and adding: "We pride ourselves in them but we did not threat at all. Hungary did not really have many chances. Overall, coming away with a clean sheet against the opposition, O'Neill will be pleased. "The frustration will be if we had been bang at it, it was an opportunity." Healy also noted Balazs Toth easily gathered a few corners.

Jamie Donley led the line but had few opportunities, with Isaac Price and Patrick Kelly starting in support and Kelly hitting the bar in the first half; teenagers Kieran Morrison, Ceadach O'Neill and Braiden Graham were among the younger options who remained unused. O'Neill addressed the youth of his attacking options, saying: "When we look at the top end of the pitch, we're looking at much younger players," and adding: "Kieran Morrison, Ceadach O'Neill, Braiden Graham - we don't have the same options in terms of what we can do at the top end of the pitch, in terms of experience, and being a little bit more accustomed to international football and first-team football." O'Neill is still without Conor Bradley, who has missed the past six games through the serious knee injury he sustained with Liverpool in January, and the 23-year-old is expected to miss the rest of this Nations League campaign; Northern Ireland have scored 24 times in Bradley's past 16 caps and, in the nine games played without him during that span, they have found the net on just six occasions.

The draw left Northern Ireland top of their group and unbeaten in League B2, with O'Neill describing his overall mood as positive as his side maintained an unbeaten start to the campaign.