Spain U21 1-2 Northern Ireland U21: Impressive visitors shock Spanish in qualifier
- Published
'We will remember that for the rest of our lives'
Northern Ireland Under-21s secured a hugely impressive 2-1 victory over Spain in Tuesday's 2019 European Championships qualifier in Albacete.
A Shayne Lavery strike and Liam Donnelly penalty in the first eight minutes helped Ian Baraclough's men shock their hosts.
Visiting goalkeeper Conor Hazard saved a Borja Mayoral penalty in what was an outstanding display.
Sub Rafael Mir scored for Spain with a deflected strike on 92 minutes.
The win moves Northern Ireland up from fourth to third in Group Two.
The defeat is the first of the campaign for table-toppers Spain, who had already qualified for the finals before Tuesday night's encounter.
Everton striker Lavery gave Ian Baraclough's men the perfect start when he fired them into a fourth-minute lead in the Carlos Belmonte stadium.
Captain Donnelly doubled the margin four minutes later from the spot after Guerrero Martin had fouled Paul Smyth in the box.
The Motherwell defender gave home keeper Antonio Sivera no chance with his spot-kick on what was his record-breaking 22nd appearance for the Under-21s.
Both Lavery and Donnelly scored in Northern Ireland's 5-3 defeat in the reverse fixture at Shamrock Park in March.
Hazard made his senior Northern Ireland debut against Costa Rica in the summer
It looked like Spain were going to equalise on the stroke of half-time when they were awarded a penalty for a Ryan Johnson foul on Mayoral.
The Spanish striker took the spot-kick himself but Hazard dived at full-stretch to make a terrific save.
The Celtic keeper continued to thwart the hosts in the second-half by producing a series of fantastic saves as the Spaniards pressed to get back in the game.
Northern Ireland will play fourth-placed Iceland away in October before concluding the qualifying campaign with a home match against Slovakia, who are one point ahead of Northern Ireland in second.
The four best-placed runners-up in the nine groups will qualify for a play-off for the Euros.