Northern Ireland 0-1 Kazakhstan: Late Abat Aimbetov winner stuns Windsor Park

Northern Ireland's hopes of qualifying for Euro 2024 suffered a severe blow as Kazakhstan snatched a late 1-0 victory at a stunned Windsor Park.

Michael O'Neill's side were in desperate need of a victory to kick-start their campaign after successive defeats but succumbed to substitute Abat Aimbetov's dramatic 88th-minute winner.

In the wake of Friday's 1-0 defeat in Denmark, this result is another huge blow to Northern Ireland, who have only three points, earned against minnows San Marino, from their opening four games.

Northern Ireland's inability to overcome a side 50 places below them in the rankings at home showed the limitations of this young squad, robbed of experience by injuries to senior players.

Another blank means Northern Ireland have only scored two in their last nine home matches in qualifying campaigns, with the lack of quality in the final third thwarting their ambitions.

Kazakhstan's third-successive victory moves them joint-top of the group alongside Finland, who thrashed San Marino 6-0 earlier on Monday, further fuelling their dream of reaching a major tournament for the first time.

• How the teams lined up | Match stats
• Euro 2024 Qualifying fixtures | Results | Tables
• Get Sky Sports | Download the Sky Sports App

Below-par Northern Ireland beaten by Kazakhstan

Another blank means Northern Ireland have only scored two in their last nine home matches in qualifying campaigns, with the lack of quality in the final third thwarting their ambitions.

Kazakhstan's third-successive victory moves them joint-top of the group alongside Finland, who thrashed San Marino 6-0 earlier on Monday, further fuelling their dream of reaching a major tournament for the first time.

O'Neill had spoken about the difficulty of adjusting his side's mindset from the predominantly defensive outlook they had in Copenhagen on Friday to playing on the front foot at home, but even though they kept Kazakhstan pegged back for long patches, there were only occasional threats.

Trai Hume sent an early shot over from the edge of the box before Dion Charles failed to keep a shot down after being played in by Shea Charles.

But arguably the best chance of the half belonged to Kazakhstan as Maksim Samorodov raced away from Paddy McNair and turned inside Hume, only to drag his shot wide of the post from eight yards with just Peacock-Farrell to beat.

Northern Ireland responded well. Isaac Price's shot from the edge of the box deflected off Abzal Beysebekov, looping away from the goalkeeper and heading just wide of the post. From the resulting corner, McNair headed back into the danger zone but Craig Cathcart could not keep it down from only four yards out.

The tempo soon dipped, Northern Ireland seemingly struggling for new ideas, and they did not threaten again until the 44th minute. Dion Charles stood the ball up for George Saville but the Millwall midfielder, still without an international goal after 46 caps, headed over from close range.

Northern Ireland's frustrations continued after the break. Saville flashed the ball across the face of goal early in the half - the cross only needed a touch but there was nobody there to add it.

The Windsor Park atmosphere was flat, the tiny pocket of Kazakhstan fans audible over the murmurs coming from the Kop.

Conor McMenamin replaced Jonny Evans and saw an angled shot tipped over by Igor Shatskiy, but Kazakhstan will deal with late killer blow as Aimbetov rode Cathcart's challenge and capitalised when a sliding McNair got in the way of Ciaron Brown to slot past Bailey Peacock-Farrell to stun the home crowd.

Northern Ireland stunned - Opta stats

• Northern Ireland have failed to score in seven of their last eight home qualifying matches for the World Cup/European Championship (excluding play-offs).
• Following their 3-0 win at San Marino last time out, Kazakhstan have kept consecutive clean sheets for the first time ever in major tournament qualifying as a UEFA nation (World Cup/EUROs).
• Kazakhstan have won three consecutive qualifying matches for major tournaments (World Cup/EUROs), as many as they had in their previous 29 (D7 L19). This is the second time they've won as many as three matches in a single qualifying campaign as a UEFA nation, along with EURO 2020 qualifying.
• Northern Ireland have lost three consecutive qualifying matches without scoring (excluding play-offs) for the first time since September 2004.
• Abat Aymbetov has scored in consecutive appearances for Kazakhstan, also coming off the bench to score the winner in their 3-2 win over Denmark in March.

O'Neill: We lost a game we never looked like losing

Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill to Viaplay: "It was disappointing to lose a goal at the stage of the game we did. It was a poor goal to concede; we missed two or three tackles we shouldn't miss, and we lose a game I don't we ever looked like losing. We probably didn't create as much as we could have. We've lost three games 1-0, we're disappointed with the goals in each of them.

"We're in a phase where we've got older players that we need to hang onto for another year or two, and younger players that are probably not really ready to play consistently at this level. The defeat is disappointing and leaves us in a position we don't want to be in the table."

What's next for Northern Ireland?

Northern Ireland continue their Euro 2024 Qualifying campaign at Slovenia on September 7 at 7.45pm, before heading to Kazakhstan on September 10 at 2pm.

Win £250,000 with Super 6!

Another Sunday, another chance to win £250,000 with Super 6. Play for free, entries by 4:30pm.