Goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher said there are “lots of positives” after his penalty save helped the Republic of Ireland to a 1-0 victory over Finland in their final Nations League home game.
Evan Ferguson’s header gave the home side the lead in the first half before Kelleher saved Joel Pohjanpalo’s spot-kick after Ferguson was penalised for handball.
The Liverpool stopper dived to his right to deny Pohjanpalo and also kept out Robin Lod’s rebound effort.
Finland had other chances to level the game and were denied twice by the woodwork before half-time.
“Before he stepped up I looked at the run-up and went with my instincts and thankfully went the right way,” Kelleher told RTE Sport.
“Maybe in the first half we rode our luck at times as well. Two off the post [for Finland] and good defending as well, some good blocks which you have to do at times. Thankfully we scored a great goal as well.
“Other than the penalty there weren’t many chances in the second half so lots of positives to take from that.”
The victory, which was manager Heimir Hallgrimsson’s first win at home, means that the Republic will finish third in the group and face a relegation play-off with a League C team. It also guaranteed that Finland will be relegated automatically.
“As we have seen in the last few years we maybe would have drawn or lost [tonight] but it shows the group is getting tighter and stronger,” Kelleher continued.
“We’re managing games which is important and at the end of the day the result is the most important thing and clean sheets go a long way.”
The Republic of Ireland now travel to Wembley Stadium to face England in their final Nations League game of the campaign on Sunday (17:00 GMT).
