Controversial Estonia winner sinks Northern Ireland
Reuters - Friday 07 October 2011, 21:43
Estonia's second-half substitute
Konstantin Vassiljev scored twice in the final 13 minutes,
including a highly controversial winner, to help his side beat
Northern Ireland 2-1 in their Euro 2012 Group C qualifier on
Friday.
Vassiljev's superb 30-metre strike six minutes from time
came when Northern Ireland stopped playing after seeing the
assistant referee raise his flag for offside against Estonia's
Martin Vunk.
But referee Manuel Grafe waved play on and Vassiljev lashed
home from outside the box.
The same player, who entered Windsor Park game on 65
minutes, had hauled Estonia level from the penalty spot after he
had been fouled by Craig Cathcart.
Northern Ireland captain Steven Davis marked his 50th
international appearance by firing the home side ahead midway
through the first half after Estonia keeper Sergei Pareiko had
fumbled Kyle Lafferty's cross.
Estonia, on 16 points, moved ahead of Serbia into second
place in the group but have completed their campaign. Serbia
will deny them a play-off berth if they win their final match
away to Slovenia on Tuesday. Northern Ireland stay on nine
points.