Fredrik Jensen deflates Ireland's promise again with winner for Finland

14-Oct-2020 18:21:43 | Guardian

Just as in Dublin last month, Fredrik Jensen scored to give Finland victory over the Republic of Ireland. And just as in all of Stephen Kenny’s five matches in charge, the Irish could find positives amid a disappointing result. Despite being depleted, Kenny’s side served up another witty yarn. They just to need to work on their punchlines.

Irritatingly for Kenny, Finland struck moments after Enda Stevens had come within inches of breaking Ireland’s scoring duck and, even worse, directly from a mix-up in the visiting defence. Until the sloppy goalkick by Darren Randolph that led to Jensen’s close-range goal, Ireland had passed pretty well and shown further shoots of progress under their new manager. But still no shots into a net.