The former Manchester United player scored in the right and wrong ends as Northern Ireland was defeated.
In order for the Manchester United defender and his Northern Ireland colleagues to qualify for Euro 2024, Jonny Evans acknowledges that his most recent performance was “not up to scratch.”
Evans, who returned to Old Trafford this summer, had a memorable 90 minutes for his nation on Thursday night as opponents Slovenia easily defeated them. Evans earned his 91st cap while scoring at the right and wrong ends of the field at Stadion Stozice, but Northern Ireland was defeated 4-2 in Ljubljana.
That came following his brief appearance for United during their 3-1 Premier League loss to Arsenal on Sunday. With only three points from five games, Northern Ireland is in fifth place in Group H for Euro 2024 qualification. Kazakhstan is the opponent on Sunday at 2 p.m.
Evans was questioned about the state of his nation’s chances of qualifying during his post-game interview. “I believe so, we had to defeat Slovenia to give ourselves any chance of that,” the 35-year-old remarked.
It was difficult to take defensively, Evans continued. I didn’t believe I played very well, but we have always been reliable and quite good in that area.
“I know I scored a goal, but I don’t think I played very well personally. I can admit that because I have adequate knowledge and expertise.
“We cannot continue to concede cheap goals at the beginning of games like we did. This is not your ordinary Northern Ireland match, especially away from home, I was thinking even during the game.
We may need to examine how we manage the game. Perhaps we got carried away the two times we entered the game again and exposed ourselves too much.
“We need to stay together, keep moving forward, and strengthen the bonds between the players. From an attacking stance, those are encouraging signals.
