Despite a disappointing start, the Republic of Ireland secured an unlikely win against Finland in Helsinki. A first-half goal by Joel Pohjanpalo seemed to set Finland on course for victory, but the Irish team mounted a remarkable second-half comeback, scoring twice to secure a crucial win.
Paul Fennessy THIS WEEK was the seventh anniversary of Ireland ’s memorable 1-0 victory over Wales in Cardiff.
Yet early on in the game, it was apparent that it would be a contest between two countries short on confidence — their respective Fifa rankings also suggested there was little between the teams with Ireland 62nd and their rivals 64th.The poor manner in which the visitors conceded the opening goal — a mishit Nathan Collins backpass inadvertently playing Joel Pohjanpalo through for a simple finish — suggested it would be another miserable night for Ireland’s long-suffering supporters.
The usual caveats apply. Finland appear to be suffering a crisis of confidence akin to what Ireland have been experiencing.The Finns came into this match with just two wins from their last seven fixtures — both of which were against Estonia . The dreadful luck Kenny suffered from had threatened to become a recurring feature of the Hallgrímsson era.
One legitimate criticism of Kenny is that he often got his team selection wrong and the in-game substitutions did not have the desired effect.Robbie Brady had a poor window in September and some coaches might have been tempted to drop the ageing Preston star.
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