Ireland display thrills Martin O’Neill

Martin O’Neill was understandably beaming at the result in Chisinau, not least because his team had repaired some self-inflicted damage which, had it gone untreated, could have put a very different gloss on the night.

“I was delighted with the performance,” he said. “Having scored early through Shane Long, we had a couple of chances to extend the lead and put the game beyond them, but didn’t happen.

“Instead we had a real lapse of concentration before half-time and had to put it right. It was not just Shane Duffy (at fault). We have the ball three or four yards from their touchline, the fourth official has already put two minutes up, and we lose the ball. You could mention three or four things that could have happened, but the player broke through from his own half and scored the goal.