Back-to-back defeats for Ireland in their quest for World Cup qualification, but a real case of chalk and cheese when comparing the loss in Armenia to Saturday night's defeat in Lisbon.
That shocking result in Yerevan will take a long time to fade from the memory, however, the performance of the national team against one of the best in Europe will do a lot to mend the damage done in the previous game.
Portugal showed their quality in the first half, although Irish tactics were working well, as the home side were limited to half-chances, aside from one clever play through the centre that offered Cristiano Ronaldo a decent effort on goal; his left-footed strike coming back off the base of the post.
As a result, they were unable to open the Irish defence, and it was if they took it personally, bombarding the final third of the pitch from the whistle at the start of the second half.
But Ireland held firm, and it was proving a defensive masterclass from Heimir Hallgrimsson’s collective as they pushed the home side wide and backed themselves from anything that was delivered into the box.
Even the concession of the penalty appeared harsh, as Dara O’Shea threw himself at the ball, body first, and whether it hit the arm at any stage mattered little as the referee’s original decision remained, with VAR unable to find evidence to rule it out.
Caoimhín Kelleher would oblige, saving Cristiano Ronaldo’s spot-kick with his feet, matching fellow stopped Gavin Bazunu’s penalty save from the great man back in 2021.
But the star-studded Portugal would finally find a way through, as the fading Irish unit were just unable to prevent yet another chance on goal, and to the home side’s credit, there was real quality in both the delivery and the finish to maintain their 100% start to the campaign.
The manager admitted after the game that it was a painful defeat, losing in injury time, but he will take huge satisfaction that the players bounced back from the humiliation to put in the performance, which shows that the unity still exists within the squad.
On top of that, he will feel vindicated that the game-plan that was put in place proved to be the right one, as his side came so close to leaving Lisbon with a vital point to add to the performance.
For all their possession, Portugal were somehow limited to maybe just two or three really good chances to score throughout, and it was a result of a combined showing from every Ireland player, which certainly pleased Hallgrimsson, who was unwilling to single out anyone in particular at the post-game press conference.
Hallgrimsson did not want to make excuses after the game but did feel that the penalty decision was harsh, and it was evident that he was none too thrilled with the referee’s overall performance.
"I wouldn't have given it," said Hallgrimsson. "But the rules are like this; if the referee gives a penalty, then the VAR needs to say it's a wrong decision.
"I think we cannot argue that it went to the hand, but the hand was close to the chest. Probably most referees wouldn't have given it.
"Once you give it, the VAR needs to say that you gave a wrong decision. That's how the rules are. I can't complain about that.
"I think he gave them too much respect, in my opinion. Yellow cards, six or seven minutes extra time. I don't know why there was not six or seven minutes of extra time in the first half.
"I don't want to find excuses for anything. I'm not used to talking about the referee, so I'm not going to do that now."
It seems harsh to look for faults in that brave Ireland performance, but there is no doubt that they did themselves no favours with some of their possession play, lacking conviction with some passing and choosing the wrong options on occasion.
And the manager put an element of that down to the fatigue that comes with playing such an intense game, and in the end, he felt that it was probably that general tiring that allowed Portugal to work the winner in the dying stages of the game.
"Definitely," said Hallgrimsson, when asked did he think fatigue played a part in the Portugal winner.
"At the end of the first half, we saw similar situations happen. Once you get tired, you give a little bit more time for the player on the ball. There's so much quality in this Portuguese team.
"If they have time on the ball, they can find the perfect pass and connect it with a perfect run. That is what happened in this extra time minutes.
"Sometimes in possession, we were too tired to find the best pass," said the manager. "And that's something we need to improve. That was maybe the area that we should have done better.
"When in possession, we lost it sometimes too quickly and lost energy defending again."
