Republic of Ireland edge win against Armenia in UEFA Nations League

Ireland’s Robbie Brady celebrates scoring his sides third goal with Callum Robinson Credit: INPHO

The Republic of Ireland retained League B status following narrow 3-2 win against a nine man Armenia.

Despite establishing a 2-0 lead courtesy of goals from John Egan and Michael Obafemi, Armenia drew level with replies from Artak Dashyan and Eduard Spertsyan.

It took a late penalty from Robbie Brady to seal the win for the Republic of Ireland.

The Preston wing-back's first start for his country since March last year could hardly have ended in more satisfying fashion.

Brady said, "The manager said to me before the game I was going to be taking penalties if one did come, although I don't think we've had one in years.

"I wasn't holding my breath, but we got one in the end and luckily enough it went in."

Despite being pushed close with a two man advantage, manager Stephen Kenny urged the Republic of Ireland to learn from the "few minutes of madness"

"We were 2-0 up and went chasing the third goal when we didn't need to. We had centre-backs overlapping and we were 2-0 up in a game we needed to win.

"We lost a bit of structure - you must maintain the structure of your back three and some protection of that as well when you are winning 2-0."

Ireland finished in third place in Group 1 behind Scotland and Ukraine having targeted top spot, and former defender Richard Dunne was less than effusive when asked about Ireland's chances of qualifying for Euro 2024 under Kenny.

He told Premier Sports: "We were supposed to win this group and we ended up in a relegation battle against the 92nd-best team in the world and it's a last-minute penalty, so it depends on the group, on the draw, it always depends on the draw."

Kenny, who has won four of the 21 competitive games of which he has taken charge, nevertheless remains convinced his team are on an upward trajectory and dismissed concerns over a perceived lack of cutting edge.

He said, "In the last two home games, we've scored three twice here. We have to get better at keeping clean sheets.

"It's not the creativity that concerns me. To be successful, that is an important dynamic in the team we have to improve."

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