Mark Travers 6 - A first cap and the penalty aside, he’ll have had busier nights nipping to the shops.
Cyrus Christie 6 - First appearance under Mick. Put himself about but caught out in penalty build-up
John Egan 6 - Handed the armband and defended well but can’t quibble about the penalty he conceded
Kevin Long 7 - A rare appearance but a good one and the Burnley man topped it off with a first goal.
Conor Hourihane 6 - Experimental left-back was tidy and raided the flank but more crosses would have been nice
Alan Browne 7 - The Preston man bossed midfield and got the ball rolling with his first Irish goal. MOTM
Josh Cullen 7 - First cap and was Mr Cool, keeping Ireland ticking over by doing the simple things well
Callum O’Dowda 6 - Started brightly but then blew hot and cold. Started the move for Browne’s goal.
Alan Judge 6 - Went close with an early header and teased in the No 10 role before making way for Byrne
Ronan Curtis 6 - Worked hard on the left side and his angled drive helped tee up the opener
Scott Hogan 6 - Crying out for better service but showed good awareness to assist Browne’s goal
IRELAND SUBS:
Jack Byrne for Judge (59 mins) - 7
James Collins for Hogan (59 mins) - 7
James McClean for Hourihane (69 mins) - 6
Kieran O’Hara for Travers (75 mins) - 5
Enda Stevens for O’Dowda (76 mins) - 6
Jeff Hendrick for Curtis (84 mins) - 5
Bulgaria: Ivanov; Goranov, Nedyalkov (Bozhikov 59), Dimitrov (Panayotov 80), Pashov; Slavchev; Mladenov (Despodov 68), G Milanov (Popov 45), K Malinov (Terziev 81), Dimitrov (Wanderson 59); Kraev
Referee: T Welz (Germany)
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