The continuing absence of a central midfield ‘pivot’ or deep lying playmaker denies Ireland an opportunity to play out from the back. Thankfully, Northern Ireland failed to make the most of the opportunities presented by their opponents either getting caught in possession or misplacing straightforward passes. Republic of Ireland's John Egan and Northern Ireland's Gavin Whyte battle for the ball during the International Friendly at the Aviva Stadium tonight. Neither Egan nor Lenihan stood out with the latter thankful to Darren Randoph for denying Northern Ireland a certain goal when the Blackburn Rovers defender was caught dithering on the ball. Three pin-point set piece deliveries had the Northern Ireland defence scrambling to clear their lines, Shane Duffy wasting the host’s best goal-scoring opportunity from one Brady in-swinger.

Source: Evening echo November 15, 2018 21:56 UTC