Heimir Hallgrímsson’s side take a 2-1 lead into their Nations League Playoff Second Leg against Bulgaria this Sunday
Far from a perfect performance, but a job done nonetheless as Ireland came from a goal down to beat Bulgaria in Plovdiv on Thursday evening and put themselves in the driving seat ahead of the return leg in Dublin on Sunday.
Goals from Finn Azaz and Matt Doherty earned a narrowly deserved victory for the Boys in Green, who found themselves behind after just 6 minutes when a Marin Petkov strike put the home side in front following some overly casual Irish defending.
That lead lasted just 15 minutes before a deep cross from Robbie Brady was guided back across goal by Troy Parrott, leaving Finn Azaz with the easiest of finishes to level the sides and bag his first senior goal in an Ireland jersey.
Ireland continued to build and their endeavours were almost rewarded when Nathan Collins came inches from sliding home a Troy Parrot effort, and their ascendancy was rewarded just minutes from half-time when Josh Cullen’s neatly chipped pass found the head of Matt Doherty who calmly headed past the onrushing Dimitar Mitov in goal.
A fiery Bulgaria emerged in the second half as they pushed hard for an equaliser but lacked the creativity to fully test Caoimhin Kelleher in goal. The same could be said for Ireland however, as they failed to fashion a clear-cut chance despite the introduction of Evan Ferguson and debutant Rocco Vata in the latter stages. Referee Benoît Bastien was arguably the busiest man on the pitch issuing 8 yellow cards in a scrappy second half from both sides, with Bulgaria’s Nikolay Minkov fortunate to stay on the field after a clumsy tackle on Jason Knight.
Ireland will perhaps feel aggrieved not to have extended their lead further, however Hallgrímsson appeared content to pick up what is only Ireland’s second-ever away win in the Nations League following victory over Finland in the group stages.
Speaking to RTÉ Sport after the match, the Icelandic coach said: “I thought the first half was really good from us, even though we were unlucky they scored from the first attack. Good response and good character.”
2-1 it finished and Ireland will be confident they can finish the job in Dublin this Sunday, after which they can look ahead to summer friendlies against Senegal and Luxembourg before their World Cup qualification campaign officially begins in September when they welcome Hungary to the Aviva Stadium.
Bulgaria: Mitov (P. Iliev 46′), Nürnberger (Minkov 72′), A. Petkov, Atanasov, Nedyalkov, Despodov (c), Gruev, A. Kraev (Nikolov 86′), M. Petkov, L. Petkov (B. Kraev 72′), F. Krastev (I. Iliev 86′).
Subs Not Used: Sheytanov, Antov, Kirilov, Panayotov, Petrov, Shopov.
Ireland: Kelleher, Doherty, Collins (c), O’Shea, Brady, Johnston (Sykes 76′), Knight (Vata 76′), Cullen, Manning (O’Brien 79′), Azaz (Taylor 76′), Parrott (Ferguson 76′).
Subs Not Used: Bazunu, Travers, Abankwah, Dunne, Moran, Armstrong, Idah.