Euro 2025 Under-21 Euros: Ten-man Northern Ireland get first win under Tommy Wright
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Dundee defender Aaron Donnelly was sent off in the first half for Northern Ireland
Ciaran McGuckin scored the winner against Azerbaijan as Northern Ireland's Under-21s got their first victory under manager Tommy Wright in Euro 2025 qualifying.
McGuckin headed home Sean Stewart's corner in the 19th minute in Baku.
Northern Ireland were reduced to 10 men in the 37th minute when defender Aaron Donnelly was sent off for fouling Murad Velijev in the area.
Dzhamal Dzhafarov fired the resulting penalty wide.
After losing their first two qualifiers to Luxembourg and Ukraine, Northern Ireland made a strong start at the Qarabagh Stadium when Cliftonville defender Stewart's corner was headed home by Rotherham United striker McGuckin.
The game changed when Donnelly was shown a red card for his foul on Velijev, but Dzhafarov's poor spot kick handed Wright's side a lifeline.
Unsurprisingly with their man advantage, Azerbaijan pegged back Northern Ireland but could not find a way past goalkeeper Stephen McMullan.
The Fleetwood stopper did well to keep out Samir Maharramli's long-range strike with 19 minutes left before Velijev headed over from a corner.
Northern Ireland continue their qualifying campaign with a home match against Serbia at Mourneview Park on Monday.