Ireland v Lithuania

A late, great Troy Parrott goal ensured it finished 1-0 at the Aviva Stadium.

42 mins: Ireland are enjoying so much of the ball, but struggling in the final third. He tries to keep a wayward cross-field ball from going over the sideline, but instead knocks it out for a corner. Ogbene’s pace and power is causing Lithuania problems, and he shows lovely footwork down the right to win a corner. 14 mins: Ireland are enjoying the lions’ share of possession here, as expected, getting their formations going and patient in their build-up. Nothing comes off it, thankfully for Ireland, but Lithuania have come into the game a little more in recent minutes. 30 mins: Ireland have gone a little sloppy and disjointed, getting swallowed up going forward. 5 mins: A positive start here at the Aviva, with Ireland playing the ball around nicely. A goal before half time would have them in good stead. Lithuania clear it directly into his path, and he lets fly from well outside the box. No success from that one, but they have another after — just about. The fans like it, with cheers of ‘Keano, Keano’ ringing out. Will Keane has just got a talking to, throwing his weight around up top and making his presence felt.

A crowd of over 35000 will be present at the Aviva Stadium as Stephen Kenny's Republic of Ireland host Lithuania in an international friendly.

A fifth meeting of the team as pointed out here. They’re still in Nations League C where they meet Turkey, Luxembourg and Faroe Islands later this year. After that it’s a real guessing game on how experimental Kenny wishes to be. Also in Kenny’s mind will be keep the club manager’s happy. The match-making by the FAI has been very good for this window, with this game a great chance for Ireland to sign off on a high for the Nations League in the summer. For the likes of senior players Seamus Coleman and Matt Doherty, these are not matches in which they need to play a large amount of time.