Bulgaria 1 Republic of Ireland 2
The Republic of Ireland are one step closer to avoiding relegation in the UEFA Nations League following their 2-1 first-leg victory over Bulgaria at the Hristo Botev Stadium in Plovdiv.
The Boys in Green had to do it the hard way as Marin Petkov gave the home side a fifth-minute lead, and it was goals from Finn Azaz and Matt Doherty that turned things around before the break.
Heimir Hallgrímsson’s side will look to get the job done this Sunday, when the two teams meet again for the second leg at the Aviva Stadium.
Ireland's Robbie Brady tackles Marin Petkov of Bulgaria. Picture: INPHO/Kostadin Andonov
Ireland were determined to make a statement, and out of the high press came a number of early half-chances. It looked like this came together with an Azaz cross to Ryan Manning, but the full-back headed the ball straight into the hands of Dimitar Mitov at the fourth minute.
Bulgaria then broke and freed up Petkov for shot on the edge of the area that went beyond the reach of Caoimhin Kelleher and in via the inside the near post.
The home side would have doubled their advantage with their next strike of the ball, if not for the Ireland goalkeeper easily catching an attempt from distance by Kiril Despodov.
The equaliser came in the 20th minute when a Robbie Brady cross was broken down to an unmarked Azaz by Parrott, and a close-range finish tied things up.
Things got better before the break as Josh Cullen picked out Doherty with a long ball over the top. The full-back headed cleanly passed an on-rushing Mitov and suddenly it was 2-0 with 43 minutes on the clock.
The second half was a scrappy affair, with Bulgaria buckling down and stopping Ireland from establishing any kind of attacking rhythm in the final third.
Once again, there were small openings, with the best opportunity after the restart being a Dara O’Shea header from a Brady corner that went to Doherty at the back post. There was no shot, instead a hasty clearance and Hallgrímsson responded by changing the entire forward line.
Ireland's Troy Parrott shoots from Lukas Petkov of Bulgaria. Picture: INPHO/Ryan Byrne
Evan Ferguson, Mark Sykes, and Jack Taylor were all brought on during that window at the 76th minute and the trio replaced Parrott, Mikey Johnston, and Azaz.
Jake O’Brien followed, with the Youghal native swapping places with Manning at the 81st minute.
The Everton defender joined the game just as Petkov cut inside and had a low pass knocked out for a corner that came to nothing by O’Shea.
At the other end of the pitch, Rocco Vatta tried playing Ferguson through and Bulgaria broke this up.
The home side only had one chance to equaliser, and that ended as a cross that went nowhere at the fourth minute of five added on.
BULGARIA: Dimitar Mitov; Viktor Popov, Zhivko Atanasov, Ilia Gruev, Alex Petkov, Andrian Kraev, Kiril Despodov, Marin Petkov, Fabian Nuernberger, Filip Krastev, Lukas Petkov.
Subs: Plamen Iliev for Mitov (HT); Ilian Iliev for Krastev (85); Vladimir Nikolov for Kraev (86).
IRELAND: Caoimhin Kelleher; Matt Doherty, Ryan Manning, Dara O'Shea, Josh Cullen, Finn Azaz, Jason Knight, Robbie Brady, Troy Parrott, Mikey Johnston, Nathan Collins.
Subs: Evan Ferguson for Parrott (76); Mikey Johnston for Sykes (76), Jack Taylor for Azaz (76), Jake O’Brien for Manning (79), Rocco Vatta for Knight (79).
Referee: Benoît Bastien (France)