It is a rule that has tipped the scales of European football for exactly 50 years, has the potential to make every minute of tonight’s 90 feel insufferably heavy, but only offers a benefit that Martin O’Neill says can be “wiped out” in a second.

It was a night in which Ireland and Martin O’Neill got exactly what they wanted, and in which it’s difficult to be critical of a hugely hard-fought draw in tough conditions, writes Miguel Delaney.