Republic of Northern Ireland beat Luxembourg 2-0 at home in match of a match of group C-3 of the Nations League soccer tournament, with which Michael O'Neill's team topped the standings after the first matches, BTA reported.
In the other match, Bulgaria and Belarus ended in a 0:0 draw.
The Northern Irish secured the three points in Belfast early in the first half. Center back Patrick McNair opened the scoring only in the 11th minute of the match, and his partner in defense for the hosts Connor Bradley, playing for England's Liverpool, scored five minutes later to make it 2-0.
Luxembourg was unable to get a goal back until the end of the game and thus started the new season with a loss.
A former and a current CSKA-Sofia player each played for Luxembourg in one half. Enes Mahmutovic, who left the "red" this summer and signed with the Dutch NAC Breda, was replaced at half-time and his place was taken by the left back Mika Pinto, newly recruited from CSKA-Sofia.
Nations League Match Results
League "A“
Denmark – Switzerland 2:0
Portugal – Croatia 2:1
Serbia – Spain 0:0
Scotland – Poland 2:3
League "C“
Azerbaijan – Sweden 1:3
Belarus – BULGARIA 0:0
Estonia – Slovakia 0:1
Northern Ireland – Luxembourg 2:0
League "D“
San Marino – Liechtenstein 1:0