The Republic of Ireland missed their chance to go top of their Nations League group after a 1-1 draw with Ukraine.
Burnley’s Nathan Collins silenced the Ukrainian crowd in the Polish city of Lodz after just half an hour with a superb solo goal – winning the ball in the opponent’s half before getting past three defenders as he strode back forward and poke home.
But seconds after restarting, Artem Dovbyk’s close-range finish beat Stephen Kenny’s side to deny Ireland their first away win in the competition.
Against the backdrop of their Nations League group stage, Ireland remains three points behind Ukraine at the top of the table – and also two points behind Scotland, which beat Armenia 4-1 earlier on Tuesday.
Kenny claimed before the game that a win over last year’s European Championship quarter-finalists would be a better record than their 3-0 win over Scotland on Saturday, but Ireland is not the team. appreciated by their opponents in Poland.
Collins skimmed past three players before conceding the goalie
Derby midfielder Jason Knight was arguably Ireland’s brightest forward in terms of progress, heading home just two minutes before setting up Troy Parrott’s best chance at half-time.
Knight’s cross from the right left the Irishman completely undefeatable behind the post, but Parrott’s header could only succeed when he tried to push the ball wide of goal.
The visitors’ goalkeeper Kelleher was also called up very early, after smart saves by Ruslan Malinovskyi and Vitaly Mykolenko, although the deadlock was broken at the other end.
Collins clamped the ball near the center circle in the Ukraine half-field and hit Diego Maradona inside of him with a sublime solo goal, his first at international level.
Ireland manager Stephen Kenny on the line
Knight came close to a second goal for Ireland in the first half as his low effort was well saved, but the visitors took a well-deserved lead at half-time – lost seconds after start over.
A ball on the left of Ireland allowed Andriy Yarmolenko plenty of space, and he passed Artem Dovbyk to easily touch the ball into the net of the Ukrainian fans.
Ukraine took the lead in the second half but Ireland did their best to regain the lead. Parrott had a deflected attempt while the impressive Knight had a well-organized low drive.
At the other end, Mykolenko rushed into the box after a promising foul but could only get Murdyk to pass the ball out.
What the managers had to say…
Republic of Ireland Stephen Kenny: “Nathan has established himself, he’s caught the imagination. Four games he’s played, he’s really excelled in all four. His decision-making against a man left behind. being so young is brilliant and he obviously has a lot of very good attributes. You feel that he’s improving all the time. It’s a special goal when he scores away, a very special goal. special and he deserves great credit for that.
“Today was a good platform to go and play and we played well – but I want us to be even better, I want us to improve again. I think we have the potential to be back. should be better and the possibility of improvement there is high. I think we can even improve. I can’t blame the players, they were really excellent. Their attitude is great and I don’t. I can’t really fault the players, they are fantastic.”
Of Ukraine Oleksandr Petrakov: “Of course I’m really upset because a centre-back scores a goal. I never give my opinion after the game, I have to oversleep, think about it and the next day, I will. tell my team what I think about it.”
What’s next?
Ukraine will face Scotland on September 21 and the Republic of Ireland will face Scotland on September 24.
