Swansea City striker Michael Obafemi scored from distance last night for his country of birth the Republic of Ireland. In amongst all the noise surrounding his behaviour once again for his club side Obafemi celebrated by putting his fingers in his ears and closing his eyes. That was a sure reference to the recent issues he has had since the transfer window. Self made issues which we have seen before at Swansea City.

The obvious reference to ‘noise’ all around him and Obafemi’s latest bout of teddy throwing was behind his ‘goal celebration’ last night. His transfer strop a few weeks ago led to him being unfit to play for Swansea and then being dropped. Now clearly in his own mind this isn’t his fault. As we continue to say, he really needs to learn he isn’t the centre of attention, Swansea City are.

That aside Obafemi responded in the only way a paid footballer should by scoring the second goal in a thrilling second half which really did test the Republic’s mettle. A stunning second half of action which included four goals, two red cards and a penalty wowed the home fans.The Republic went 2-0 up before Armenia scored two quickfire goals to draw level with just over fifteen minutes remaining. Stephen Kenny's men were handed a lifeline as his side were awarded a penalty with just minutes left on the clock. Robbie Brady stepped up and made no mistake with his spot kick, ensuring the Republic of Ireland picked up all three points at the Aviva Stadium. The ball was played into the feet of Obafemi and his first touch allowed him to turn goalwards, his sights set firmly on the target, before the Swansea striker unleashed another unstoppable effort at the Lansdowne Road arena, this time, his low shot rifling across the keeper and into the bottom left corner.

Going 2-0 up was deserved for this Irish team who Armenia actually defeated 1-0 back in June. But then the pace and direction of the game changed dramatically. First, Dashyan smashed home a rebound after Bazunu had tipped an effort onto the post. Just over a minute later, the sides were level. Conor Hourihane gave the ball away deep inside his own half to Eduard Spertsyan, who brought the ball forward and hit a shot that Gavin Bazunu could only see slip underneath his gloves.

That equaliser brought an onslaught on to the Armenian goal. Even in injury time the drama was far from finished. Just before the ninety the referee adjudged Dashyan to have handled Dara O'Shea's goal-bound shot after reviewing the incident on the pitchside monitor, Brady was given the chance to win the game on his first international start in eighteen months. Dashyan and Hovhannes Hambartsumyan were both dismissed as Armenia reacted furiously to the penalty being awarded. Brady made no mistake and the game ended in a dramatic 3-2 victory for the home side. With England and Wales both relegated from the Nations League top flight in recent days to League B this result meant the Republic avoided an even more dramatic drop to League C.

Michael Obafemi as ever covered as much of the pitch as he could last night with faultless commitment for his countries cause. Even at Swansea there is absolutely no blame either when he is on the pitch. His issues always seem to be off it, and it is getting tiring. So, to see him last night in such decent form is great for the swans, and hopefully now he will return to west Wales with a more positive attitude to the work that he has to do for the club who pay his wages. Ultimately Obafemi is a prized asset at Swansea, but that’s all he is an ‘asset’ and the owners and the manager have made that very clear. His strops and poor behaviour really have to stop. He has masses of talent, pace and flair, and that’s what we should be reading about every week not now and again. Scott Hogan replaced Obafemi on eighty five minutes and he looked washed out. Hopefully that’s just due to the effort he put in last night and nothing more.

Ultimately, Ireland had sixty three per cent possession, twenty total attempts, Armenia had four, and 572 completed passes Armenia had 264. - this was a complete stroll that went very badly wrong thanks to two bizarre minutes. The most condemning stat ? Twenty total shots, only four on target. Armenia had three on target out of four total. Ireland needed more of a clinical edge. They survived, just about, but their profligacy could have led to a very different story. Many swans fans know that possession rarely means a great deal if you don’t take your chances. It was a great game to watch and it was also tremendous to see Obafemi back at his game, but please Michael leave the baiting to one side, it isn’t big or clever and as you heard last time out for the swans, the fans aren’t too impressed either.

Republic of Ireland: Gavin Bazunu; Nathan Collins, John Egan (captain), Dara O’Shea; Matt Doherty; Jason Knight (Alan Browne, 75’), Jeff Hendrick, Jayson Molumby (Conor Hourihane, 50’); Robbie Brady; Troy Parrott (Callum Robinson, 75’), Michael Obafemi (Scott Hogan, 85’)

Armenia: David Yurchenko; Hovhannes Hambartsumyan, Hrayr Mkoyan (Taron Voskanyan, 59’), Varazdat Haroyan (captain), Andre Calisir (Karen Muradyan, 82’); Jordy Monroy (Taron Voskanyan, 59’); Artak Grigoryan, Eduard Spertsyan, Khoren Bayramyan (Zhirayr Shaghoyan,, 81’); Tigran Barseghyan, Lucas Zelarayan (Vahan Bichakhchyan, 68’)

Referee: Rade Obrenovic 7/10 : Didn’t hide away from the big decisions.

Photographs licensed from Reuters

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