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Ireland had to come from behind once again to beat Bulgaria in tonight's UEFA Nations League play-off at Aviva Stadium.

Bulgaria made things difficult for Heimir Hallgrimsson’s side, as they did in Plovdiv on Thursday, by opening the scoring with Valentin Antov stroking home from close range.

A shell-shocked Ireland side had been in control for the opening 30 minutes before the concession and they had to wait until the second half to stage the comeback.

It eventually arrived in the 63rd minute as Evan Ferguson slammed the ball into the roof of the net, before Adam Idah, introduced from the bench, wrapped up the victory and cemented Ireland’s League B status to complete the 4-2 aggregate victory.

It was a very bright start for Ireland and Jake O’Brien hit the target in the fourth minute as he connected with a corner, forcing a very good stop from Plamen Iliev.

Nathan Collins was unable to connect with the rebound, however, as Bulgaria survived the early effort. Moments later Ireland were back in range as Finn Azaz had space to shoot from the edge of the box but it flew wide.

In the tenth minute, Bulgaria went to sleep from a throw-in, leaving Robbie Brady in acres of space and plenty of time to deliver a dangerous ball into the box. It only needed redirecting on goal, but perhaps fell to the wrong man as Mikey Johnston’s headed effort was well off target.

What followed was a throwback to the second half in Plovdiv as the game turned sloppy with both sides contributing to the stop-start nature of the ten-minute period.

Someone needed to step up and get the team going, and it was Azaz who made something happen by dropping deep to take the ball off the keeper and drive forward.

A probing pass forward into the feet of Ferguson and