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O'Neill 'Baffled' by Refereeing as NI Win Late in Georgia

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Michael O'Neill criticised the officiating after Shea Charles' 99th-minute goal gave Northern Ireland a 1-0 Nations League win in Tbilisi over Georgia.

Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill said he was "baffled" by the officiating in his side's 1-0 Nations League win over Georgia on Friday, a result decided by Shea Charles in the 99th minute in Tbilisi.

Charles' late strike earned Northern Ireland their first-ever away win in the Nations League. But O'Neill's post-match focus fell heavily on referee Orel Grinfeeld and a series of decisions the manager felt went against his team.

"In the second half we had to show a lot of resilience," O'Neill told BBC Sport NI. "Not only against the opposition, who were very good in the second half when they got Kvaratskhelia in the game a lot more, but some of the decisions that went against us. I was really disappointed in that side of things with how the game was refereed."

The match was goalless and slow before the interval, then turned on a run of flashpoints after the restart. In the 65th minute, following a VAR review, Daniel Ballard was judged to have fouled Luka Lochoshvili while challenging for a cross, and a penalty was awarded to Georgia.

Georgia captain Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, the Paris St-Germain winger, stepped up to take it. Goalkeeper Pierce Charles saved the spot-kick, keeping the game level.

O'Neill questioned the decision to award the penalty at all. "I've not seen the incident back but to me it seemed incredibly harsh to give a penalty for that," he said. "The guy was nowhere near the ball to head it."

Northern Ireland then had a penalty appeal of their own turned down in the 88th minute, when Shea Charles appeared to be caught inside the area. "We feel aggrieved that we didn't get one at the other end," O'Neill said.

Ballard hamstring injury

The manager's anger extended to a challenge on substitute Ceadach O'Neill, who was brought down late in the game without a free-kick being given. In the passage of play that followed, with Georgia breaking forward on the counter-attack, Ballard was injured while chasing a loose ball.

"The foul on Ceadach when he came on the pitch causes Dan to get injured," O'Neill said. "I was just baffled by the quality of the refereeing."

Ceadach O'Neill won his third cap in the match, a milestone that ties him to Northern Ireland for the next three years.

O'Neill confirmed that Ballard, a defender with Sunderland, had suffered a hamstring problem and would be sidelined for Northern Ireland's remaining three fixtures in the window, against Hungary, Ukraine and Georgia.

"You saw the nature of how he pulled up. It's a hamstring," the manager said. "We'll scan him tomorrow but he's certainly not going to be available for the next three games."

Despite his frustration, O'Neill praised his players for the way they held on and then found a winner deep into stoppage time. He described the performance as "magnificent" and said the team "showed every side of our character tonight."

"At times it didn't go our way," he said, before pointing again to the decisions that shaped the contest. The victory, and the two brothers at the centre of it - Pierce Charles with his penalty save and Shea Charles with the winning goal - gave Northern Ireland a landmark result to build on in the campaign.

Northern Ireland Georgia, Michael O'Neill, Nations League, Shea Charles, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Pierce Charles, Daniel Ballard, Tbilisi

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