Ukraine 1-1 Republic of Ireland: Visitors miss chance to go top of Nations League group

 

Republic of Ireland missed the chance to go top of their Nations League group after a 1-1 draw with Ukraine.

Burnley's Nathan Collins silenced the vocal Ukraine crowd in the Polish city of Lodz just after the half-hour mark with a superb solo goal - winning the ball in the opposition half before jinking past three defenders as he strode forward and poked home.

But seconds after the restart, Artem Dovbyk's close-range finish legged back Stephen Kenny's side, to deny Ireland a first ever away win in this competition.

In the context of their Nations League table, Ireland remain three points behind Ukraine at the top of the table - and are also two behind Scotland, who beat Armenia 4-1 earlier on Tuesday.

Kenny announced before the game that victory against last year's European Championship quarter-finalists would be a better achievement than their 3-0 win over Scotland on Saturday, but Ireland were not a side who looked overawed by their opponents in Poland.

Derby midfielder Jason Knight was arguably Ireland's brightest player in terms of going forward, heading wide just after two minutes before setting up Troy Parrott for the best chance of the first half.

Visiting goalkeeper Kelleher was also called into action early on, making smart stops from Ruslan Malinovskyi and Vitaly Mykolenko, though the deadlock was broken at the other end.

Collins pinched the ball near the centre circle in the Ukraine half and channelled his inner Lionel Messi with a superb solo goal, his first at international level.