Player Ratings: Brady pick of the bunch as excellent Ebosele makes impact

Liam Scales made no mistake with his second set-piece opportunity to help defensive partner Nathan Collins off the hook after his shambolically mishit pass back to Kelleher

FESTY AND FEISTY: Festy Ebosele of Republic of Ireland in action against Tomas Galvez of Finland during the UEFA Nations League B Group 2 match between Finland and Republic of Ireland at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium in Helsinki, Finland. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Caoimhin Kelleher: There should at least be some clean sheets to come with Liverpool in the next few weeks. Powerless to stop Joel Pohjanpalo from opening the scoring but made a couple of decent, if straightforward stops, either side of it. 6

Dara O'Shea: Shifted to the right side of defence and did well apart from being outpaced and outsmarted by Topi Keskinen half an hour in. He even began to offer an attacking threat with a couple of crosses as the evening wore on. 6

Nathan Collins: Awful mistake to gift Finland the lead with a shambolically mishit pass back to Kelleher. The Brentford man has had the armband bestowed upon him - but captains cannot be seen to make such shocking, unforced errors. 5

Liam Scales: Coughed up possession cheaply a minute in but was solid enough aside from that. Failed to get a headed set piece on target early in the second half but made no mistake with his second opportunity, finding the right corner. 7

Robbie Brady: Showed great composure to control the cross before finishing impressively for the late winner. His wide set pieces found a green shirt more often than not and he provided the delivery for Scales’ leveller. 8

Chiedozie Ogbene: Had less joy than in recent games, although the Corkman did make one rampaging run down the right about an hour in as the away side took a firmer control on proceedings. 6

Josh Cullen: Hustled and passed it safely but, nearing 40 caps, there remains a sense that he lacks the authority required to really control matches at this level. 6

Jason Knight: Moved the ball fluidly but too often static out of possession when more dynamism was required. Still, he appears better suited to a central role than being used wider. 6

Sam Szmodics: Ireland’s most inventive presence in an otherwise flat first half. Works tirelessly and stylish when on the ball but he is better suited as a No10 than out wide and needs to build chemistry with Evan Ferguson going forward. 6

Finn Azaz: Won a free kick with his most notable drive forward, ten minutes before the interval, but the Middlesbrough man was not involved regularly enough to nail down a starting spot going forward. 5

Evan Ferguson: Good but not yet 100%. Briefly thought he had equalised from close range only for the assistant to quickly flag because Robbie Brady’s set piece delivery had initially gone out of play. 6

Subs 

Troy Parrott (for Ferguson, 71) Went close to making it 3-1 in added time. 5 

Jamie McGrath (for Azaz, 71) Couple of nice passes but not heavily involved. 5 

Adam Idah (for Szmodics. 80) Had an added time shot saved. 5 

Festy Ebosele (for Ogbene, 81) Excellent weave in from the right before finding Brady for the winning goal. 6

Not used: Mark Travers, Max O'Leary, Mikey Johnston, Kasey McAteer, Mark McGuinness, Jayson Molumby, Andrew Omobamidele, Jack Taylor.