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Kostas Stafylidis and Kyle Lafferty vie for possession in Piraeus

NI open qualifiers with three wins for first time

Kyle Lafferty scores in each of the three wins

Greece been in Fifa top 20 for all but four months since 2004

NI defender Gareth McAuley wins his 50th cap

Northern Ireland produced a heroic performance to defeat Greece and begin a qualifying campaign with three successive wins for the first time.

Beating the top seeds keeps Northern Ireland two points clear at the top of Euro 2016 qualifying Group F, ahead of Romania, whom they visit next month.

Jamie Ward's shot deflected off Loukas Vyntra to put the visitors ahead.

And, after half-time, Kyle Lafferty ran clear and fired home a low shot from the edge of the area to seal victory.

It was a sublime finish from the Norwich City striker, who has now scored in each of the opening three qualifiers against Hungary, the Faroe Islands and Greece to take his tally of international goals to 12.

Northern Ireland began brightly as they attempted to extend their 100% record and Ward's ninth-minute opener was just reward for their endeavour.

O'Neill praises N Ireland quality

Greece, who had garnered only one point from their opening two matches, began to enjoy more possession, but a poor final ball let them down on too many occasions.

Nikos Karelis threatened in the 33rd minute as he burst through on goal and lifted the ball over advancing goalkeeper Roy Carroll, but his effort went well wide of the post.

Just before the interval, Lafferty latched onto an incisive Chris Baird pass, ran down the left wing and powered past a defender, before unleashing a fierce shot which cannoned off the underside of the bar.

The big forward made no mistake six minutes after the break as the visitors executed a fine breakaway goal, which secured only their second ever success over Greece, the previous triumph coming in a World Cup qualifier in October 1961.

The struggling hosts, European Championship winners in 2004, carved out only one notable chance in the second half, but Panagiotis Tachtsidis saw his curling left-foot shot pushed round the post by former Olympiakos keeper Carroll.

The result leaves Greece manager Claudio Ranieri still looking for the first win of his tenure as his side struggle to find the form which reflects their world ranking of 14 and saw them reach the last 16 of the World Cup in Brazil.

Northern Ireland had lost four of their last five fixtures against Greece, but Michael O'Neill's side now head to Romania with plenty of confidence and momentum as they seek to qualify for a European Championship for the first time and for their first tournament since the 1986 World Cup finals.

Northern Ireland captain Steven Davis led his side with distinction against the Greeks

Northern Ireland players gather around Kyle Lafferty, scorer of the second goal in Piraeus

Michael O'Neill becomes the first NI manager to lead his side to three wins at the start of a campaign

Northern Ireland players Ryan McGivern and Oliver Norwood celebrate after the final whistle