Sports Direct Irish Premiership: Linfield 1-3 Glentoran
Glentoran came from behind to grab a sensational 3-1 win over Linfield at Windsor Park in this evening’s battle of the “Big Two”.
The win lifts Declan Devine’s men to fourth in the standings whilst David Healy’s charges remain top…for now.
Joel Cooper scored an early opener as Linfield bossed first-half proceedings, but second-half strikes from Jay Donnelly, Frankie Hvid and former Blues man Cameron Palmer were enough for the upset.
The drizzle may have been falling at Windsor Park, but the atmosphere inside the stadium was electric with only eight minutes gone thanks to an opener from the hosts.
Jamie Mulgrew’s long pass was played into the path of Kirk Millar by Matthew Fitzpatrick with Millar seeking to return the favour unsuccessfully.
However, the Glens make a real mess of trying to clear the ball inside their own area and Cooper sneaks in to smash the ball off the underside of the crossbar and into the back of the net.
Linfield continued to press and almost had a second on the half-hour mark.
An Ethan McGee throw-in fell perfectly for Cooper, but his curling strike from range landed on the top of the net much to the relief of Daniel Gyollai in goal.
The game was almost 40 minutes old before the visitors had their first meaningful attack.
Daniel Amos’ in-swinging corner was headed towards goal by James Singleton, but keeper Chris Johns manages to block the shot before regathering safely.
If the first half was all about the Blues, the second period belonged to the Glens, and just five minutes after the restart they had their equaliser.
Amos played the ball from the left wing to the edge of the box for Donnelly, who took a touch before sending a rifled effort into the bottom left corner.
McGee went close for Linfield soon after, but the momentum was already shifting to the visitors, and they flipped the game on its head after 63 minutes.
Frankie Hvid leaped highest to connect with Amos’ corner and finds the top right-hand corner with his header, giving Johns no chance.
As Linfield pushed for an equaliser they were hit with an absolute sucker punch on 80 minutes.
The usually Mr. Dependent Chris Shields was caught in possession just 25 yards from his own goal. The ex-Blues man Palmer with the steal, and he proceeded to charge down on goal before calmly slotting past Johns.
Linfield pushed but couldn’t grab another as Devine rejoiced and Ballymena United can now eye heading to the top of the table if they beat Loughgall in tomorrow’s game.
