Ireland v Armenia player ratings: Lively Festy a threat but Ireland fail to impress 

Festy Ebosele was Ireland’s only outlet during the dire first period and his unpredictability at least offered a modicum of threat.

Ireland's Festy Ebosele battles with Armenia's Styopa Mkrtchyan in their World Cup qualifier in the Aviva Stadium on Tuesday night. Picture: Nick Elliott/Inpho

Caoimhín Kelleher 

A rarity: he was the quieter goalkeeper, which is quite the achievement since his opposite number in the Armenia net could also have had a sleep for the entire opening period before a hectic second. 6 

Séamus Coleman 

Left bloodied inside two minutes by the carelessly high boot of Zhirayr Shaghoyan and booked for a needless charge on Henri Avagyan, designed to bring their tepid performance to life. Full of effort again but, unsurprisingly, looked tired when coming off not long after an hour. 6 

Jake O’Brien 

Misjudged an early header at the near post from Will Smallbone’s corner and ceded long throw responsibility to Festy Ebosele. Defended well without being given too much cause to panic.  Shown a late yellow card. 6 

Nathan Collins 

Registered Ireland’s first attempt on target with a good header in the 53rd minute that was well saved by Avagyan and almost on the end of a rebound from another stop soon after. Far from flawless but this has been a much better window for the captain. 6 

Dara O’Shea 

Glancing header denied by a second excellent Avagyan stop and dominated in the air at the back. Distribution left a lot to be desired though - several long passes in the first half were way off their intended mark. 6 

Ryan Manning 

Dragged a first-time shot wide 20 minutes – Ireland’s only attempt in the first 45 minutes. But he became more prominent in the second chapter with a man advantage and his corners were threatening. Booked for a shirt pull late on that rules him out of the Portugal game next month. 6 

Will Smallbone 

Set-piece deliveries were occasionally on point and he provided the cross from a short corner that teed up Evan Ferguson but the midfielder was never able to control the game when it was 11 versus 11 – a very familiar story. Substituted late on. 5 

Jayson Molumby 

Tenacious, as always, and drilled a couple of long-range attempts off target as the second period wore on. But he was a bystander for much of the early exchanges as niftier opponents passed the ball around him.  Yellow-carded not long before the goal, meaning he is also suspended for Portugal’s trip to Dublin. 5 

Festy Ebosele 

Ireland’s only outlet during the dire first period and his unpredictability at least offered a modicum of threat. Surprising that he was taken off in the 65th minute while others around him struggled to make any inroads. 6 

Finn Azaz 

Appeared on a different wavelength to those around them and misjudged both the timing of his runs and passes in a first half that summed up Ireland’s disconnect. But he baited Tigran Barseghyan into a headbutt that earned the most stupid of all red cards, the match-turning moment, and took the short corner leading up to the goal. 5 

Evan Ferguson 

The matchwinner thanks to a calm-headed finish, moments after squandering a one-on-one, but it’s hard to forget his lack of impact until then and the sight of him almost in the defensive third late in the first half summed up the seismic flaw with the collective gameplan. 6 

Substitutes 

Chiedozie Ogbene (for Coleman 65): Eased the pressure with a dribble down the right that won a fortuitous corner. 5 

Troy Parrott (for Ebosele 65): Put himself about but no sight of goal. 5 

Adam Idah (for Ferguson 81): Not on long enough to be rated.

Jack Taylor (for Smallbone 81): Not on long enough to be rated.