The Republic of Ireland missed a chance to climb atop their Nations League group as they produced one of the close football scores of the weekend in the Nations League. Nathan Collins scored a wonder goal to put the visitors ahead in the 31st minute before Artem Dobryk equalized in the 47th minute. The result meant that they are three points behind Ukraine and two points behind Scotland after they beat Armenia 4-1. The Republic of Ireland boss Stephen Kenny said that victory over the Euro quarter-finalists would be a bigger achievement than their win over Scotland.
Managers Reaction
Republic of Ireland’s Stephen Kenny: “Nathan has established himself, he’s caught the imagination. In the four games he’s played, he’s been really exceptional in all four games. His decision-making for one so young is excellent and obviously, he’s got a lot of very good attributes and you feel that he’s improving all the time. It was a special goal to score away from home, a very special goal and he deserves huge credit for that. Today was a good platform to go and play and we played well – but I want us to be even better than that, I want us to improve again. I think we’re capable of even getting better and the capacity there for improvement is high. I think we can even get better. I can’t fault the players, they were really excellent. Their attitude was brilliant and I can’t really fault the players, they were tremendous.”
Ukraine’s Oleksandr Petrakov: “Of course, I was really upset because a central defender scored the goal. I never give my opinion after the game, I have to sleep on it, think about it, and the next day, I will tell my team what I think about it.”
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