The save that cost Northern Ireland a big result

A late penalty, a goalkeeper who said no, and a scoreline that flatters nobody: Northern Ireland's 0-0 draw with Georgia in their League B Group 2 fixture ends up being the sort of result that gets filed under missed opportunity rather than progress made.

Michael O'Neill's side had built a reputation this campaign as a young group worth watching, the kind of team that keeps nicking results above their station and making people recheck the table. Against Georgia they did almost everything right except the one thing that actually counts. Chances came and went, the pressure built, and when the breakthrough finally arrived in the form of a spot kick deep into the game, Mamardashvili got down to his left and kept it out.

A save that settles the night

The Guardian reports Isaac Price stepped up in the 84th minute with the chance to win it, only for the Valencia goalkeeper to save low to his left. Georgia leave with a point they barely had to fight for in open play, and Northern Ireland leave with a result that doesn't match the performance.

That's been something of a theme for sides facing Georgia in this window. A back line and a goalkeeper set up to frustrate, happy to sit in and make the visiting team solve a problem rather than create a game of their own. Northern Ireland solved most of it. They just didn't solve the last part.

Progress with a ceiling attached

This is still a young Northern Ireland squad finding its level in League B, and a point away from home against a side built to defend is not nothing on paper. But the manner of the draw, a side on top for long spells denied by one save rather than one mistake, is the kind of frustration that tends to stick longer than the result itself.

O'Neill's team have made their name this campaign by punching above expectations. Georgia reminded them on the night that the margins in this group are thin, and that building momentum means nothing if you can't finish the job when the chance is sitting on the spot in front of you.