2023 Women's World Cup qualifiers: Northern Ireland earn opening 4-0 win over Luxembourg
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Northern Ireland open with comfortable win over Luxembourg
Northern Ireland produced the perfect start to their 2023 World Cup qualifying campaign with a 4-0 victory over Luxembourg at Inver Park.
Marissa Callaghan, Rachel Furness and Emily Wilson scored first-half goals as Kenny Shiels' side dominated in front of an enthusiastic home crowd.
Furness missed a penalty after the restart but NI got their well-deserved fourth through winger Lauren Wade.
Kirsty McGuinness hit the bar late on but NI were full value for their win.
The victory marked a history-making night as Inver Park, home of Irish Premiership side Larne, hosted its first-ever senior international as Northern Ireland returned to competitive action following their Euro 2022 play-off victory over Ukraine in April.
Luxembourg, ranked 122nd in the world, were competing in their maiden full World Cup qualifier, and Northern Ireland's returning supporters were left to celebrate a professional performance to extend their run of competitive victories to seven.
Textbook first-half performance
Inside the opening minute, McGuinness' cross was spilled by goalkeeper Lucie Schlime, and Wilson, in for the injured Simone Magill, scuffed her effort with the goal gaping.
On her 118th Northern Ireland cap, defender Julie Nelson almost notched a fairytale goal in her home town when the Larne native's looping header landed just the wrong side of the post, and minutes later Furness' effort from range was high and wide.
Northern Ireland's pressure was relentless and Nelson had a further chance and Chloe McCarron saw a free-kick well held by Schlime before Luxembourg's resistance was finally broken on 16 minutes when Callaghan reacted quickest to a Furness flick-on.
The Cliftonville midfielder darted towards the loose ball and lobbed Schlime with a brilliant, instinctive effort to break the deadlock.
Inver Park in Larne was hosting its first-ever senior international match
There was a brief scare as Shiels' side switched off from the kick-off and Kimberley Dos Santos got in behind the defence and forced Jackie Burns into a smart save.
However daylight between the sides was quickly provided when Furness headed home a McGuinness corner on 23 minutes for her 32nd international goal.
Dos Santos again tested Burns in a carbon copy of her earlier chance but the home pressure kept coming as Wade and Furness, who could have ended the first-half with five goals, spurned chances.
There was a goalmouth scramble which saw Schlime pull of a brilliant double stop to keep out Callaghan and Sarah McFadden, before Wilson and Rebecca Holloway were denied by a sea of red shirts in the area.
However the home side got their third when 20-year-old Wilson blasted to the net after Furness' free-kick had came back off the post to net her first international goal on the stroke of half-time.
Vance returns as Furness misses penalty
Furness headed wide from another corner at the start of the second half and the Liverpool midfielder hit the inside of the post with a penalty on 52 minutes after Wilson's shot had been blocked by Jessica Berscheid's stray arm.
Northern Ireland's tempo dropped towards the hour mark, and Shiels introduced the fit-again Demi Vance and exciting youngster Kerry Beattie in place of Furness and Wilson.
Rangers left-back Vance was immediately involved and her teasing cross just evaded Beattie, and the Glentoran forward then almost got her maiden international goal when her half volley from a tight angle fizzed past the far post.
Lauren Wade wheels away in celebration after scoring NI's fourth goal
McFadden powered a header over as the hosts went in search of a fourth, which eventually came with 20 minutes to go when Wade followed up Beattie's blocked shot to calmly tuck the ball into the bottom corner.
Wade found the side netting from McGuinness' deep cross as the wave of green shirts continued to pile forward, and the Cliftonville winger almost grabbed a deserved goal when her powerful strike from the edge of the area clipped the top of the crossbar.
However Northern Ireland comfortably secured three points in their opening game and Shiels can now look forward to a highly-anticipated encounter with Latvia at Windsor Park on Tuesday - the senior women's first game at the National Stadium since 2010.
Difficult October matches against Group D favourites England and Austria follow before a trip to North Macedonia in November.
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