Republic of Ireland striker David McGoldrick was philosophical after seeing what would have been his first international goal, chalked off as an own goal.
McGoldrick was named as the man-of-the-match in Ireland’s 2-0 Euro 2020 qualifying campaign victory over Gibraltar at the Aviva Stadium.
The Sheffield United striker thought he had broken his international duck when his 27th minute strike broke the deadlock in a tepid game, before Robbie Brady scored a late second goal.
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However McGoldrick’s shot took a big deflection off Gibraltar defender Joseph Chipolina and the goal was eventually credited to the Lincoln Red Imps player as an own-goal.
McGoldrick was sanguine when he learned of the decision and said: "That’s the rules, I don’t know if it was going in or not. I think it hit him so quickly off me but I would have loved it be my goal. If it’s not we got the three points and that’s the main thing."
The Ireland striker also rattled the woodwork in the second-half with a rasping shot from the edge of the penalty and admitted that after that happened, he knew his luck was out.
"When I hit it I thought it was in, then it rebounded off the post and I knew that it was not going to be my night to score.
"Luckily enough Robbie came on and got the second goal to make the scoreline look better."
Ireland now sit at the top of Group D on ten points, five points clear of Denmark who have a game in hand.
Despite seeing Ireland struggling to break down Gibraltar throughout the evening, McGoldrick is focussing on the positives, especially after his side had to weather the storm against the Danes on Friday evening.
"[It was] a weird game today, we had a lot of possession, coming from Friday when we didn’t have a lot of possession, it changed around.
"We should have got more goals, I should have got a few goals again, I just need to get that first goal but overall we’ve got ten points for the campaign so far so the boys are happy.
"This time last year I didn’t have a club, I had to go on trial pre-season at Sheffield United and really had to buck up my ideas.
"I’m really enjoying my football at the minute, playing for my club and country and long may it continue."
David McGoldrick may not have been credited with Ireland's opening goal but he did win the man-of-the-match award. #rtesoccer pic.twitter.com/FE3EyvAU2l
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) June 10, 2019
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