Northern Ireland weathered a first-half storm in Plovdiv only to gift Bulgaria the decisive goal as they fell to a 1-0 Nations League defeat.
Michael O’Neill’s side repelled attack after attack in a tough opening 40 minutes before a poor mistake from goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell allowed Bulgaria captain Kiril Despodov to grab the only goal of the night.
Northern Ireland improved considerably after the break but Bulgaria, draw specialists who began the night with only one win in their last 16, rarely looked troubled on a frustrating night for the Green and White Army.
O’Neill made only one change to the side that beat Luxembourg 2-0 at home on Thursday as Jamal Lewis stepped in for Callum Marshall and Trai Hume retained the captaincy.
But it was a very different first-half performance as Northern Ireland struggled in an intimidating atmosphere in the small but noisy Hristo Botev Stadium.
Bulgaria looked stronger and sharper, and O’Neill’s team struggled to get out of their own half on an awful pitch, which cut up badly in this recently renovated ground.
Bulgaria could not believe they had not scored only three minutes in. Peacock-Farrell saved Georgi Kostadinov’s glancing header from Despodov’s corner, but pushed it only as far as Aleksandar Kolev.
He put the ball back in and it struck Alex Petkov, bouncing goalwards before Ciaron Brown cleared it off the line, onto a post and into the hands of a grateful Peacock-Farrell.
The onslaught continued and after Shea Charles gave the ball away in midfield, the young midfielder chased back and did just enough to prevent Despodov from getting his shot on target.
Despodov then struck the outside of the left post with a free-kick from the edge of the area as Peacock-Farrell could only watch.
When Northern Ireland did get up the other end, Bulgaria broke quickly from Brown’s long throw, and a great ball over the top from Leeds midfielder Ilia Gruev put Kolev through on goal, only to hit a tame shot at Peacock-Farrell.
Northern Ireland had a chance out of nowhere when Bulgaria failed to deal with a simple ball over the top, but Isaac Price sent his shot wide and moments later Bulgaria were celebrating.
Having survived an onslaught, Northern Ireland gave the goal away.
Brown shepherded the ball back to Peacock-Farrell in an awkward spot but the goalkeeper made a poor decision to play it sideways to Daniel Ballard, and Kolev stepped in, squaring the ball for Despodov to tap in at the back post for his fifth goal in his last eight internationals.
Northern Ireland belatedly woke up as Conor Bradley began coming in search of the ball more centrally, but he could not get the better of Aberdeen goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov as the pair challenged for a Charles cross before Ballard headed over.
Northern Ireland were better at the start of the second half too as Charles and Bradley got the ball moving, yet chances were hard to come by, and O’Neill sent on Shayne Lavery for Dion Charles just before the hour in a bid to mix things up.
Bulgaria were still holding Northern Ireland at arm’s length. Although they had managed to move the game into Bulgaria’s half, Northern Ireland were actually creating fewer chances than they managed on the break in the first half.
Lavery headed over from a Lewis cross and Ballard missed the target late on as Bulgaria saw the game out.
O’Neill: It’s very disappointing
Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill: “It’s very disappointing.
“We knew it would be a tough game against a team we know have a lot of physicality, a lot of power in their team, and that was a factor in the early part of the game.
“I thought we dealt with that well but the nature of the pitch meant it was always going to be a game with more physicality in it than normal and ultimately we lost the game to a poor goal and that’s the most disappointing thing.”