Callum Robinson rounded off, what was at times a testing week, with a player of the match display against Azerbaijan as his two goals helped Stephen Kenny claimed his first competitive win as Ireland manager.
Robinson hit the headlines in the run-up to the game after revealing he had chosen not to be vaccinated against Covid-19 despite twice contracting the virus.
However, he provided the perfect response to any criticism he received as a result with two first-half goals to set the stage for a 3-0 World Cup qualifying win in Baku.
Robinson opened the scoring after seven minutes with a wonderful left-footed strike from the edge of the penalty area before doubling Ireland's lead six minutes before the break, this time scoring with his right from just outside the box.
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The West Brom man had chances in the second-half to complete his hat-trick, most notably with a header from close range but substitute Chiedozie Ogbene sealed the will with a late header of his own.
Afterwards Robinson reflected one a good night’s work but admitted that not getting his third goal stings slightly.
"Yeah, that one is going to hurt for a while that I didn't get a hat-trick in the end," he told RTÉ Sport.
"The save from the keeper, I took a shot on my right foot, and the header could have made it a perfect hat-trick. They were good saves from the keeper.
"But I’m happy, first of all to get the win was the main thing, goals come second, but it was obviously nice to get on the scoresheet as well. But the main thing is that we’re on the plane on the way home with a big 'W'."
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The victory was the first of Ireland’s World Cup qualifying campaign and only Kenny’s second win from 17 in charge but Robinson believes that it’s a platform from which Ireland can build, starting with Tuesday’s game against Qatar at the Aviva Stadium.
"Yeah, it’s obviously not nice not getting wins for all of us," he said. "Not just the manager, coaching staff, all the staff behind the scenes, all the lads. We want to be winning games, I said that the other day, hopefully now we can build on this.
"Obviously we’ve got a friendly on Tuesday night. The way we’ve been playing, we’ve been playing well, we’ve been sometimes played better than that in other games. But we got the result tonight and that’s all that mattered."
Ogbene, the game’s other goalscorer, rounded out the victory in the final minute of normal for his first senior goal in an Ireland jersey.
Kenny has been a big supporter of Ogbene throughout his career and was instrumental in getting the young attacker to declare for Ireland, and Ogbene was sure to thank his manager afterwards.
"We’ve worked really hard all week to be where we are today," he said, speaking to RTÉ. "I’ve made a lot of sacrifices and I owe it to the manager for believing me and putting me on the pitch. It’s such a great feeling, especially for the travelling fans and people at home, especially for my family.
"I think we done it with style as well, 3-0 away from home, it is a professional result. You can see how much it means to us to come here and keep the clean sheet and get the result.
"[There’s] so much joy going through my body right now for myself, for my family and all my friends that I grew up with. Also for the nation, for the country, we’ve had a rough patch and to come here to get 3-0 is overwhelming."
