Northern Ireland will eventually look back on this window and count it as an overall progress, but for now they will feel nothing but frustration after chances went begging in an ultimately goalless draw with Georgia.
Michael O’Neill’s side came into this final game of the international window having beaten Ukraine 3-0 on Friday. They had also earlier won away against Georgia and drawn with Hungary, have yet to concede a goal, and are top of Nations League B2.
But despite dominating much of this game here, they failed to capitalise, and Isaac Price’s late penalty miss ultimately ensured they had to settle for a point.
Northern Ireland had most of the attacking initiative before the interval. Ruairi McConville went close with a header from Justin Devenny’s cross and Georgia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili looked uncomfortable in dealing with the attempt. Patrick Kelly then found himself through on goal after Trai Hume’s pass but hesitated between shooting and feeding a teammate, and Georgia could recover.
Georgia’s best opening of the half came when Zuriko Davitashvili forced an excellent save from Pierce Charles. Northern Ireland responded immediately with a flowing attack, although Devenny’s low cross was overhit.
The hosts also failed to make enough of a series of set-piece opportunities. Price came closest from one, curling a free-kick wide shortly before half-time.
Georgia offered little going forward for long periods, with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia enduring an unusually quiet evening. The Paris Saint-Germain forward twice gave away possession early on and struggled to influence the game as Northern Ireland’s midfield largely contained him.
Northern Ireland’s task became more difficult after Ethan Galbraith went off injured with 25 minutes remaining. The match had become increasingly scrappy by then, Georgia having successfully slowed the game and taken some of the momentum away from the home side.
O’Neill responded by sending on Josh Magennis, who soon had a major chance to break the deadlock, but Mamardashvili produced an excellent save.
The resulting corner created further drama. The ball hit the crossbar during a scramble, before VAR intervened after Budu Zivzivadze appeared to catch McConville in the face with a kick. A penalty was awarded to Northern Ireland.
Price stepped up but failed to convert it, Mamardashvili diving low to his right to keep out the midfielder’s effort and preserve Georgia’s clean sheet.
There was still time for more controversy when Georgia appealed for a penalty in stoppage time, after Saba Sazonov had gone down under a challenge from Callum Marshall, but it was waved away.
