LYON, France -- Three observations from Northern Ireland's 2-0 triumph over Ukraine in Lyon.
1. McAuley goal sends Northern Ireland wild
This is what the Northern Ireland fans had come to France to see. Not a rear-guard action, not a plucky defeat, not making up the numbers or enjoying the day out. They came to see their team attack the game. They came to see their team win.
As the rain poured down in Lyon and thunder reverberated above, it finally happened. Oliver Norwood lifted a free kick into the box and Gareth McAuley rose above Yevhen Khacheridi and powered his header past Ukraine goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov. The massed ranks of the Northern Irish support, comfortably one of the most vibrant, passionate and noisy fan bases the tournament has this season, erupted in joy.
Northern Ireland needed to be better and they were better. Much better. Manager Michael O'Neill made sweeping changes to the team that had lost to Poland on Sunday, the most notable of which was the controversial decision to drop talismanic striker Kyle Lafferty. He had been outspoken in his criticism of the performance, claiming that his team had been "a shadow of the side that got us here." Dropping Lafferty from the starting line-up was one thing. Not even using him as a substitute was something else entirely.
He was replaced by Conor Washington, in addition to four other changes, including a recall for 36-year-old Aaron Hughes. There was a change of shape, a formation that shifted between a 4-3-3 when Northern Ireland had the ball and a 5-4-1 when they did not. Stuart Dallas was given the responsibility of dropping back into the defence while still providing width on the attack. It left that flank potentially vulnerable, but Ukraine only occasionally exploited the weakness.
Right from the start, there was more aggression and ambition from O'Neill's side. They won their first corner within 90 seconds and made the better chances of the half. Jamie Ward was a threat on the right and his 28th-minute cross might have been converted by Washington had it not been for the slightest shove from Khacheridi. Not that it was enough draw the attention of referee Pavel Kralovec.
There were more clear-cut Northern Irish chances in the first half than half-chances in their entire game against Poland. Craig Cathcart should have done better when he smashed a header over the bar and Pyatov was forced to slap Steve Davis' dangerous shot away just before the break.
McAuley's goal came four minutes after half-time and more goals could have followed. Norwood's long-range snap shot was saved by Pyatov before the referee took the players off when the torrential rain turned to hail. The delay was only brief, and when the players returned, Northern Ireland's threat continued.
The last five minutes were dicey, and drawn out with every time-wasting trick in the book. Andriy Yarmolenko drew a fine save from Northern Ireland goalkeeper Michael McGovern as the clock ticked down. But then Ukraine were caught on the break and it was Niall McGinn who gleefully slammed home a second, the 12th goal to arrive after the 76th minute in this tournament.
Northern Ireland, one of the genuine minnows of this competition, now have three points. And that might be enough to make it out of the group.
2. Poor display from Ukraine
The last time Ukraine scored a goal in a European Championships game, it was their first game of Euro 2012. If they play like this against Poland next week, they won't get the next one until at least Euro 2020. Ukraine head coach Mykhaylo Fomenko made just one change, swapping fiery striker Roman Zozulya for Yevhen Seleznyov, but his team's performance could not have been any more different to the display they gave against Germany on Sunday. They were flat, listless and oddly disjointed, unable to ever get their game going.
Seleznyov had a torrid time, touching the ball only six times in the first half and failing in his efforts to connect with Yarmalenko's early swirling cross. He had chances after the break when he managed to beat Aaron Hughes to a header shortly after half-time, but he could only edge the ball well wide of the post. Another effort just moments after Northern Ireland's opening goal went straight into the hands of McGovern.
But it was Kovalenko who missed their best chance with 20 minutes to go, racing onto to Seleznyov's knockdown, but sending the ball screaming into the crowd like a wayward firework. Poor Seleznyov. It was his last contribution to a miserable day for Ukraine. Replaced by Zozulya, he passed on the opportunity to watch the remainder of the game and strode down the tunnel.
It didn't help that the Ukraine midfield two of Taras Stepanenko and Serhiy Sydorchuk were sitting so deep that Northern Ireland had time and space to pass the ball around.
Once again, Yevhen Konoplyanka chose his own path, cutting in off the flank and moving infield where he can cause so many problems. But not on this day. Indeed, one through ball to Seleznyov was so over-hit that it drew a look of utter contempt from the striker. Konoplyanka bickered with the referee throughout the second half, aggrieved not to receive more protection against robust Northern Irish challenges. Just before Northern Ireland scored their second goal, he chased a loose ball, failed to keep it in play and fell face first into the wet turf, lying there for an age. As images go, this one seemed very appropriate.
3. Fans provide incredible atmosphere
No one ever has to ask if the Northern Ireland fans have arrived or not. You could hear them from streets away when they arrived in Lyon two days before this game, and they didn't seem to stop singing from that moment until long after full-time. It will be to the tournament's benefit if they do make it into the final 16. But this was a bittersweet occasion for their supporters. The 24th minute saw a minute's applause for Darren Rodgers, the supporter who so tragically lost his life in the early hours of Monday morning. A banner was unfurled paying tribute to the 24-year-old.
For the rest of the game, all power was diverted to the vocal chords. The Will Grigg song, a sort of cultural exchange item for the rest of the continent, was sung loudly despite the fact that Grigg didn't actually feature. And when the hail came down, the fans just carried on. The players, however, did not. They were led down the tunnel by the referee.
But if we're saluting fans, then mention must be made of the group of 20 or so Ukrainian supporters who went above and beyond the limits of sanity by stripping off their shirts and dancing topless while their bodies were stung by high velocity balls of ice.
It all made for an amazing atmosphere inside the Parc Olympique Lyonnais.