Ireland v England: How the Irish players rated at the Aviva

1 Caoimhín Kelleher
Couldn’t have done a lot more. Had two stunning one-on-one saves under his belt inside the opening 20 minutes, denying Gordon and Kane at point-blank range. Pulled off a couple more in the second half to keep the score down. Rating: 7
7 Matt Doherty
Left Coleman exposed quite a bit by trying to get on the front foot, which wouldn’t have been so bad if he’d actually threatened anything on the ball. But he didn’t, so he was frequently neither one thing nor the other. Rating: 4
2 Séamus Coleman
England clearly fancied attacking down his flank and repeatedly sent Gordon scurrying at him. Held his own pretty well in the circumstances. Went off injured on the hour. Rating: 5
4 Dara O’Shea
Got bamboozled by England’s quick passing for the Grealish goal, caught in two minds as to whether to go with Saka or Rice and ending up close to neither. Distribution wasn’t great. Rating: 5
22 Nathan Collins
Lucky to escape when he lost Kane for an early chance, followed by a brilliant diving tackle at Kane’s feet in the run-up to Rice’s goal. The problems were ahead of him but he stuck to his work. Rating: 6
11 Robbie Brady
Pretty diligent in keeping tabs on Saka, sacrificing his own attacking instincts in the effort. Offered nothing when he got on the front foot, often turning back for the safer pass. Rating: 4
8 Will Smallbone
Lost concentration for the opening goal, switching off as Gordon broke through and not realising that Rice had run off his inside shoulder to be there for the follow-up. Couldn’t get his foot on the ball at any stage. Rating: 4
14 Jayson Molumby
The early headed chance was tough because it came to him so quickly but he still had to score. Did get one good chance on the hour but blazed it over. Worked hard right to the end. One of his better displays. Rating: 6
21 Sammie Szmodics
Had one half-chance in the first half but didn’t get the power into his strike to beat Pickford. Had a better one in the second but didn’t hit the target. Rice gave him the runaround for the second goal. Rating: 5
10 Adam Idah
One of those games where he probably wishes he picked another profession for himself. Chased for all he was worth, wrestled the night away with Marc Guehi, all for no reward. Rating: 5
20 Chiedozie Ogbene
Tried to force himself into the game, scorching Mainoo with one first half sprint in particular. But mostly had to spend the night chasing around and trying to break up play. Rating: 5
Substitutions: Jake O’Brien and Jason Knight came on with half an hour to go when the game was more or less done. O’Brien picked up a yellow card, Knight wasn’t much involved. Evan Ferguson got on the pitch for his first game in five months, which is something. Rating: 5
Manager: Heimir Hallgrímsson
Won’t play many better teams than England but this was still far from a promising start. If Ireland were supposed to be compact and hard to beat, it wasn’t much in evidence. The crowd started barracking the aimless long balls early in the second half. Tuesday has to be better. Rating: 5