Czech Republic finish on a high

The Czech Republic completed their elite round programme with a 3-1 victory against Northern Ireland which left their opponents at the bottom of Group 5.

Both sides had a point to show from their previous two outings, a loss to Italy and draw with Russia in both cases, and Northern Ireland's hopes of recording a first victory took a blow when Jonathan Breeze was sent off after 20 minutes for a foul on Zdeněk Folprecht.

The Czech Republic dominated from then on, with Ladislav Krejčí particularly lively. The left-winger had already delivered a number of teasing crosses when he found the net himself three minutes before the break after being picked out by Václav Kadlec's centre.

Pavel Kaderabek had already been introduced by that point and made his mark by creating the second for fellow substitute Antonín Fantiš (57) before completing the scoring in the final minute following a quick exchange in the area with Jiří Skalák.

Apart from James Gray's 74th-minute header from Patrick McLaughlin's long free-kick, Northern Ireland rarely looked like scoring. The Czech Republic finish third in the section, a point behind second-placed Russia and two behind Italy.