Northern Ireland v Romania LIVE!

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Goalless it finishes and it is probably a fair result. Kyle Lafferty could have won it for Northern Ireland late on but they remain a point behind Romania ahead of crucial games with the Faroe Islands and Hungary in September.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: A high cross isn’t dealt with by Papp and it drops out to Baird but his shot is wayward. Goal kick to Romania.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: We will have three minutes added time.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Maxim comes off to be replaced by Gabriel Tamas. An extra defender shows Romania are happy to take a point.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Free-kick in a promising position for Romania now. 25 yards out, in the inside left channel. Torje takes and pings it over the bar.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Romania just can’t get out, a loose pass from Andone stops a promising counter attack.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Norwood powers a free-kick at goal from 30 yards and Tatarusanu tips it over the bar as Northern Ireland start to build the pressure.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Best chance of the match and Lafferty should score. Norwood’s free-kick is nodded down and the striker is totally unmarked, he rushes the shot though and bobbles it into the ground. Tatarusanu pushes it away.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA:The initial ball is dealt with but it is worked back to Norwood on the right, his low cross bounces just ahead of the keeper and he can’t gather under pressure from Lafferty. It comes out and Davis’ shot is straight at the keeper.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: A draw arguably suits both teams but the hosts are coming forward looking for the win. Davis slides McLoughlin in down the right and his cross is put out for a corner.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Into the last ten minutes and Andone clatters Cathcart as the defender jumped for a header.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Double change for Northern Ireland. Corey Evans replaces Jamie Ward and Craig Cathcart comes on for the injured Johnny Evans.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Evans is down and Romania can take advantage. NOrthern Ireland just get it clear and then Torje drags down Davis as he looked to break. Yellow card.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Ward tees it up for Oliver Norwood but the midfielder cuts across the ball and it flies wide.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Tatarusanu puts a third goal kick of the second half straight into touch.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Evans is down again and is definitely struggling. The crowd are still in full voice as Ward shoots over the top from distance.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Keseru is coming off and the No 9, Florin Andone is coming on.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Johnny Evans was talking to the bench before that free-kick was taken and appeared to be complaining about a calf problem. He is continuing for now though.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Norwood is there too but Brunt takes it and blasts it high over the bar. A waste opportunity.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Free-kick on the right corner of the penalty area for Northern Ireland. Chris Brunt will fancy this.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Romania threaten again and McAuley makes a good block from Stancu’s well-struck volley.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: McAuley with a terrible error to send Torje away. Fortunately for him Evans is back to prevent the Romanian having a clear run on goal, Torje still gets into the box and gets his shot away. It is deflected past McGovern but just wide of the post. Huge let off for Northern Ireland.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: First change for Romania. Chipciu is off to be replaced by Bogdan Stancu.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Keseru stings the palsm of McGovern after being found down the left side of the area by Pintilii.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Sepsi puts a great ball in for Romania, it is cleared to Maxim and the midfield goes down in the box. That is a clear dive and the referee tells him to get up. No booking for the No 10 though.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Pinpoint left wing cross from Brunt and Lafferty heads over. He arrived slightly too early but that is still a good chance for Northern Ireland.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Maxim’s free-kick is cleared to Torje but his shot is wild. Goal kick.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Great one-touch play from Romania threatens to cut the hosts defence apart but eventually they regroup and halt the attack.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Corner for Northern Ireland. Norwood’s ball is headed out and Dallas is there again but fires well over the bar.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: CHris Brunt is shown the yellow card now for a clumsy tackle of Torje,

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: A lapse in the NOrthern Ireland defence and Chipciu can drive into the box, he looses his footing though and the home side escape.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Norwood’s free-kick is cleared to Davis on the edge, he cushions a head into the path of Dallas and his crisp shot is only inches wide of the keeper’s right hand post.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Sepsi is into the book early in the half after a late tackle on Lafferty. The striker had done well to win the ball in the corner from Grigore.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Romania get us back under way as the wind continues to blow at Windsor Park.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Romania put a free-kick into the box and does that come off a hand? Romania think so but the referee ignores their appeals and that is half-time. Very little to choose between the sides so far and it is still all to play for.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: One added minute at the end of the half.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Corner for the hosts and there are two great chances from Brunt’s delivery. First Chris Baird misses it at the near post and then Evans meets it at the back stick. His header is a decent one and Tatarusanu is forced to tip it over the bar.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Papp loses out to Norwood and he looks to set Brunt away. Chiriches is across to cover and puts it out for a throw in.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Dallas hits the post for Nothern Ireland but the whistle has already gone for a handball by the winger as he controlled Ward’s cross.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Lafferty gets the ball 25 yards out and hits a decent strike goalwards, it takes a big deflection off the defender and goes just wide. Inexplicably though, a goal-kick is given.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Lafferty ploughing a lone furrow up front and is giving the Romania centre-backs plenty to think about.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Keseru’s first effort is put out for another corner. He then whips on in and McGovern does well to stop it going straight in.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Corner to Romania as Johnny Evans is forced out of the centre to deal with Torje.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Maxim goes down wide on the left but the free-kick is over-hit and McGovern catches.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Lovely move from Romania and Keseru finds Chipciu with a nice reverse pass. Chipciu’s shot is a tame one though and McGovern can simply kneel down and pick it up.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Pintilii is back on the pitch now and appears to be fine. He is greeted by boos from the home fans who were clearly unimpressed with both his tackle on McLoughlin and then his attempts to convince the referee that he was the victim.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: A very late tackle from Pintilii on McLoughlin and the Romanian stays down. He appears to have come off worse. He doesn’t escape the yellow card though.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Torje goes down at the end of the area looking for a free-kick, the referee is having none of it though.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: The game has still not really settled into any sort of pattern, no doubt the wind is part of the reason for that but it has been rather disjointed thus far.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Jamie Ward skips past two men and puts a low ball into the box. It is deflected out for a corner but it comes to nothing.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Torje bursts into the Northern Ireland box but opts not to shoot before Sepsi blasts his effort well over the bar. McAuley put in a rather desperate challenge as Torje arrived into the area and can count himself lucky that it was so poorly timed that he missed the man completely.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Lafferty gets his shot on target from 20 yards out but Tatarusanu gathers easily.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Northern Ireland are playing into a very strong wind and Michael McGovern’s kick barely reaches the centre circle.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Cleverly worked as Ward comes short only for Norwood to clip it to the edge of the area where Chris Brunt is waiting. He mis-hits his volley and Romania can clear but a nice set-piece from Michael O’Neill’s side.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Lafferty battles well with the centre-backs and wins Northern Ireland’s first corner of the match.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Torje finds space down the inside right channel but Evans stands him up and the winger slices his shot well wide on his weaker right foot.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Moments later it is ROmania caught in possession, the ball is fed into Lafferty but he clips his own heel as he bursts into the box and the chance is gone.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: McAuley caught in possession and Steven Davis does very well get back and tackle Chipciu. Romania had men over making Davis’ tackle all the more crucial.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: Throw-in deep in Romania’s half for the hosts, Chris Brunt looked set to try a long one but decides against it in the end. Taken short but Lafferty can’t prevent the ball going behind for a goal kick.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: An early free-kick for Romania, Keseru takes it on from almost 40 yards out and it is only narrowly wide.

NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 ROMANIA: The home side kick-off and away we go!

The anthems are over and shouts of ‘green army’ ring around Windsor Park. Kick-off is now just moments away.

The teams are out and here come the anthems…

Northern Ireland have won both their home games so far in Group F, can they make it three from three against the leaders Romania? The pressure is on after third-placed Hungary won in Finland earlier today. Kick-off is just over five minutes away…

Group F leaders Romania are 6/4 to go to Belfast and win, making them 1/3 favourites to top the table by the end of the campaign. Northern Ireland are 21/10 to win on the night, and 4/1 to go on and win the group. Either way, the bookmakers expect Michael O’Neill’s men to qualify for Euro 2016, with Sky Bet offering just 1/5 for them to make the finals in France. Kyle Lafferty is 12/5 to add to his tally this campaign, while he’s the value bet in the first goal market at 7/1, though Claudiu Keseru of Romania is the 11/2 favourite.

There are competitive starts for Northern Ireland goalkeeper Michael McGovern and winger Stuart Dallas while Romania, as expected, are missing Lucian Sanmartean and Razvan Rat due to injury with Tottenham defender Vlad Chiriches captaining the side.

Romania: Tatarusanu, Papp, Grigore, Chiriches, Sepsi, Prepelita, Pintilii, Torje, Maxim, Chipciu, Keseru.
Subs: Lung Jr., Tamas, Moti, Andone, Bumba, Hoban, Vatajelu, Popa, Stancu, Bicfalvi, Sapunaru, Balgradean.

Northern Ireland: McGovern, C McLaughlin, J Evans, McAuley, Brunt, Baird, Davis, Norwood, Lafferty, Dallas, Ward.
Subs: Ferguson, McGinn, Grigg, Carson, Evans, McCourt, McNair, Hughes, Cathcart, Magennis, Lavery, Taylor.

The teams are in…

Welcome to our live text commentary of tonight’s European Championship qualifier between Northern Ireland and Romania at Windsor Park. The visitors lead Group F by a point from Michael O’Neill’s men and could go a long way to qualifying for Euro 2016 with victory in Belfast.

Kick-off is at 1945 BST.