Match ends, Republic of Ireland 3, Scotland 0.
The Republic of Ireland claimed a maiden Nations League win at the 13th time of asking as they saw off Scotland in surprisingly comfortable fashion in Dublin.
Badly in need of points after defeats by Armenia and Ukraine in their first two games, the Republic took a 20th-minute lead through Alan Browne with Troy Parrott doubling the advantage after being teed up brilliantly by the impressive Michael Obafemi.
Obafemi then capped an outstanding individual display by thundering home the Republic's third from distance five minutes before being forced off injured.
The Irish thought they had netted a fourth just after the hour but a VAR review found that Grant Hanley had hooked Scott Hogan's header off the line before it crossed.
While the Republic will bask in the relief of a long-awaited win in this competition, for Scotland it is a disappointing result given how they bounced back from losing their World Cup play-off semi-final with Ukraine by beating Armenia on Wednesday.
Victory lifts the Republic up to second in Group B1, ahead of the third-placed Scots but having played a game more.
Obafemi shines for rejuvenated Republic
Scotland boss Steve Clarke had admitted to being wary of an Irish backlash after their winless start to the Nations League and that is exactly what happened with the Republic looking much sharper and hungrier from the outset at a noisy Aviva Stadium.
Obafemi, one of five players drafted in by Stephen Kenny after the Ukraine defeat, was key to the Republic's rejuvenation in what was the 21-year-old Dubliner's first international start.
It was Obafemi who robbed Scotland centre-back Grant Hanley of the ball before finding James McClean, and the Swansea striker would have connected with McClean's cross at the far post had it not been for Scott McKenna's header flicking the ball behind for a corner.
Thankfully for the hosts, McClean's corner was headed back into the danger area where Browne was able to bundle the ball past Craig Gordon from point-blank range.
While Obafemi played a minor role in bringing about the corner for the Republic's opener, he was the architect for the second.
After picking up a loose ball in midfield, Obafemi checked back to gain a yard on Callum McGregor, took a step-over and, having spotted Parrott's clever dart between Anthony Ralston and Jack Hendry, deftly lifted the ball in for the 20-year-old to nod past Gordon.
Scotland struggle to respond to Irish goals
It was, however, an even first half for the most part, and the Republic were fortunate not to have been punished for a couple of sloppy Shane Duffy passes out of defence, both of which resulted in John McGinn shots from the edge of the area with the second coming immediately before the Republic's second goal.
But this was clearly the Republic's day and Obafemi put the game beyond Scotland when he lashed a fierce right-footed shot past Gordon after Billy Gilmour had lost the ball in a dangerous position.
Aside from Hogan being denied by Hanley, the Republic dropped off after Obafemi was withdrawn in the 56th-minute because of injury but the home side's third goal had effectively killed the game as a contest with Scotland failing to muster a meaningful response.
Clarke's side must now look to do that by managing what the Republic could not by beating Armenia in Yerevan on Tuesday (17:00 BST) while the Irish will hope to maintain momentum when they travel to Poland to take on Ukraine later that evening (19:45).
Scotland's first defeat in Ireland since 1963 - match stats
- Republic of Ireland have won their first ever game in the Nations League at the 13th attempt of trying (W1 D5 L7), scoring more goals (3) than they managed in their first 12 matches in the competition combined (2).
- Scotland suffered just their second away defeat to Republic of Ireland (P7 W2 D3 L2) and first since June 1963 (1-0).
- This was Republic of Ireland's biggest competitive win on home soil since October 2014, when they beat Gibraltar 7-0 in a European Championship qualifier.
- Republic of Ireland had two players aged 21 or under (Michael Obafemi & Troy Parrott) score in a competitive game for the first time since September 1997 (David Connolly & Mark Kennedy vs Iceland).
- Parrott (20y 127d) became the youngest player to score a competitive goal for Republic of Ireland since Stephen Ireland in October 2006 (20y 46d vs Cyprus in a European Championship qualifier).
- Obafemi and Parrott became the first players to both score and assist in a competitive game for Republic of Ireland since both Robbie Keane and Wes Hoolahan did so against Gibraltar in October 2014.
Player of the match
ObafemiMichael Obafemi
Republic of Ireland
Avg
- Squad number19Player nameObafemiAverage rating
8.33
- Squad number10Player nameParrottAverage rating
7.65
- Squad number4Player nameDuffyAverage rating
7.16
- Squad number17Player nameKnightAverage rating
7.11
- Squad number12Player nameCollinsAverage rating
7.06
- Squad number14Player nameBrowneAverage rating
7.04
- Squad number15Player nameMolumbyAverage rating
6.96
- Squad number5Player nameEganAverage rating
6.91
- Squad number1Player nameKelleherAverage rating
6.84
- Squad number6Player nameCullenAverage rating
6.82
- Squad number11Player nameMcCleanAverage rating
6.80
- Squad number8Player nameHourihaneAverage rating
6.60
- Squad number20Player nameHoganAverage rating
6.57
- Squad number7Player nameRobinsonAverage rating
6.46
- Squad number13Player nameHendrickAverage rating
6.31
Scotland
Avg
- Squad number23Player nameRalstonAverage rating
4.05
- Squad number6Player nameSouttarAverage rating
4.01
- Squad number1Player nameGordonAverage rating
3.73
- Squad number14Player nameGilmourAverage rating
3.69
- Squad number9Player nameStewartAverage rating
3.68
- Squad number17Player nameS ArmstrongAverage rating
3.67
- Squad number15Player nameMcKennaAverage rating
3.61
- Squad number3Player nameRobertsonAverage rating
3.55
- Squad number8Player nameMcGregorAverage rating
3.51
- Squad number4Player nameMcTominayAverage rating
3.14
- Squad number7Player nameMcGinnAverage rating
3.10
- Squad number13Player nameHendryAverage rating
2.92
- Squad number19Player nameBrownAverage rating
2.92
- Squad number11Player nameChristieAverage rating
2.86
- Squad number10Player nameAdamsAverage rating
2.77
- Squad number5Player nameHanleyAverage rating
2.75
Line-ups
Republic of Ireland
Formation 3-1-4-2
- 1Kelleher
- 12Collins
- 4DuffyBooked at 60mins
- 5Egan
- 6Cullen
- 14Browne
- 15MolumbySubstituted forHendrickat 84'minutes
- 17KnightSubstituted forHourihaneat 72'minutes
- 11McClean
- 19ObafemiSubstituted forHoganat 56'minutes
- 10ParrottSubstituted forRobinsonat 85'minutesBooked at 88mins
Substitutes
- 2Christie
- 3Stevens
- 7Robinson
- 8Hourihane
- 9Keane
- 13Hendrick
- 16O'Leary
- 18O'Shea
- 20Hogan
- 21Hamilton
- 22Lenihan
- 23Travers
Scotland
Formation 3-4-2-1
- 1Gordon
- 13HendrySubstituted forGilmourat 45'minutes
- 5Hanley
- 15McKennaSubstituted forSouttarat 74'minutes
- 23Ralston
- 4McTominay
- 8McGregor
- 3Robertson
- 7McGinnSubstituted forS Armstrongat 59'minutes
- 11ChristieBooked at 44minsSubstituted forBrownat 59'minutes
- 10AdamsSubstituted forStewartat 59'minutes
Substitutes
- 2Patterson
- 6Souttar
- 9Stewart
- 12McCrorie
- 14Gilmour
- 16Taylor
- 17S Armstrong
- 18Turnbull
- 19Brown
- 20Campbell
- 21Kelly
- 22Hickey
- Referee:
- Marco Di Bello
- Attendance:
- 46,927
Match Stats
- Possession
- Home43%
- Away57%
- Shots
- Home6
- Away9
- Shots on Target
- Home5
- Away2
- Corners
- Home6
- Away9
- Fouls
- Home10
- Away10
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, Republic of Ireland 3, Scotland 0.
Post update
Corner, Scotland. Conceded by Shane Duffy.
Post update
Attempt missed. Ross Stewart (Scotland) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Stuart Armstrong.
Booking
Callum Robinson (Republic of Ireland) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Post update
Stuart Armstrong (Scotland) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Post update
Foul by Callum Robinson (Republic of Ireland).
Post update
Anthony Ralston (Scotland) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Post update
Foul by Conor Hourihane (Republic of Ireland).
Post update
Anthony Ralston (Scotland) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Foul by James McClean (Republic of Ireland).
Substitution
Substitution, Republic of Ireland. Callum Robinson replaces Troy Parrott.
Substitution
Substitution, Republic of Ireland. Jeff Hendrick replaces Jayson Molumby.
Post update
Hand ball by Billy Gilmour (Scotland).
Post update
Corner, Scotland. Conceded by John Egan.
Post update
Attempt blocked. Ross Stewart (Scotland) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Andrew Robertson.
Post update
Hand ball by Ross Stewart (Scotland).
Post update
Corner, Scotland. Conceded by Alan Browne.
Substitution
Substitution, Scotland. John Souttar replaces Scott McKenna because of an injury.
Post update
Attempt saved. Jacob Brown (Scotland) header from the centre of the box is saved in the top right corner. Assisted by Andrew Robertson with a cross.
Comments
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Coming from a neutral.
If they don't want to play in this stupid competition, don't. Don't turn up and put in abject performances like that.
Christie is a charlatan, he floofed about the pitch being more help to the Irish and then jumped out of a 60-40 ball. Coward.
I conned myself into thinking that with the exception of poor results against much better teams, we had reached a point where we could compete with teams of the same standing. But today ended that delusion.
That was as clueless a performance as the one we put up against Kazakhstan.
Another " Not very good at " Waste of a shirt.
The great Scottish (Irish) journalist Tom English has told us all week that scotland will hammer this utterly useless Irish side.
Oh dear !
It’s time the beeb got shot of this utterly clueless character.
To think a few years back we had the wonderful Hugh MCIvanney as a sports journalist, now we are paying a licence fee for this non-entity.
GRANDAD.