Ireland's scrappy victory over Armenia ensured that Heimir Hallgrimsson’s side remain in the World Cup conversation going into the November international window, however, there is a steep challenge awaiting in the final two games of the campaign.
Four points from four matches sees Ireland sit third in the table, a point behind Hungary and well off leaders Portugal who have taken 10 points from their first four games and look to have one foot in the tournament.
Hungary battled back for a point in Lisbon, and it could prove vital in the race for the play-off position as it suggests that Ireland will need to secure at least a draw at home to Portugal in order to have something to play for in the final game in Budapest.
But three points from the October window was always the aim for this team who looked dead and buried in Yerevan following the 2-1 defeat to Armenia, and while Ruben Neves’ injury time winner last Saturday denied Ireland what would have been a bonus fourth point, overall Hallgrimsson will be relieved to have secured this result.
Ireland started the game the brighter of the two, however, there really was not much between the teams in the opening 45 minutes, which, in truth, was not the greatest spectacle and it was reflected by the low decibel levels throughout the arena.
But for the second home game in a row, Ireland showed a relentless attacking spirit to go on to secure the victory thanks to Evan Ferguson’s well-taken header.
Similarly, Ireland fought back from two down in their opening home fixture against Hungary as they went on the rampage to secure a hard-fought draw last month.
There is a common denominator, of course, as on both occasions, the opposition was reduced to ten men, which allowed Ireland the space and the confidence to play a more attacking game.
Arguably, the second half against Armenia was far more impressive, as Hallgrimsson’s side appeared to be much more creative and composed in the final third and would have won by three or four had it not been for the heroics of the goalkeeper Henri Avagyan, who made a string of excellent saves.
The manager will also be happy that his side did not appear anxious as the game moved into the closing stages as they kept the attacking intent and did not allow Armenia to rally in search of a point.
Overall, it has been a positive October for Hallgrimsson and his struggling squad as they will take great heart, on reflection, from the Lisbon performance, while the winning feeling will certainly bring a bit of momentum into the November games.
Speaking after the game, Hallgrimsson told RTÉ television that he felt that it was a nervous performance from his side, and that the team were too passive defensively and on the ball during the first half. And the manager elaborated on his answer at the post-match press conference.
"Probably nobody wanted to make a mistake," said Hallgrimsson. "Like when we were jumping and pressing in the first half it looked like we were not in sync like we were in Portugal.
"We were really happy with how we pressed them (Portugal), how we guided them into spaces and made traps for them.
"We were not in sync in the first half, and I just relate that to nerves, that you sometimes become passive when you want to be secure but luckily we changed that in the second half."
"The formation doesn't mean passive or defensive or attacking," he added, when asked if keeping a five-man defence added to the passive approach.
"We obviously wanted our full-backs to be higher in the first half and we saw that in the second half when we played them higher. It was more about ball possession, I would say, they had more ball possession in the first half, I think."
And despite the scrappy performance, Hallgrimsson was tallying up the positives to take into the next two games against Portugal and Hungary.
"So we can't be unhappy," he said. "We've been complaining about the second-game syndrome, we must be happy that we won the second game now.
"We've been complaining about conceding early, we didn't concede early now, we didn't concede at all so we kept a clean sheet, that's a good step.
"So we'll take the positives and carry on to the next window."
And another thing the manager was impressed with was the focus that his team were able to maintain considering the pressure on their shoulders to go out and win the game.
"What you're afraid of in games like this that you know you need to win is that you lose your focus and discipline on the pitch," said Hallgrimsson.
"That's why I'm happy we kept a clean sheet because in these moments when you need to push to score you sometimes open up at the back and you concede a goal and even that gets players losing focus more and more so I was happy with the focus.
"We talked about against Portugal, if we kept a clean sheet they would get annoyed, they would put more players forward, giving us more chances to score.
"It's just now it was just a flipped psychology. We needed to be aware of that our goal could come in the 91st minute and I am happy with that, that we kept the focus level, we kept a clean sheet, we kept our structure."
Hungary’s late fightback to secure a point has made things tougher for Hallgrimsson going into the November games, however, he does not feel that it will change his mindset.
Hallgrimsson is remaining both positive and confident ahead of the deciding games, and he feels it’s up to the media whether to report if the glass is half full or half empty on that particular front.
"No really, it doesn't change anything," he said. "We always knew that we needed to go to Hungary and have a win there.
"This looks like we need a point against Portugal, or Armenia will do us a favour in Yerevan. And I think we all see this Armenian team is no rollover, there's a big heart, there's aggression in them and a spirit that is noticeable, and if you watch the game in Hungary, they matched Hungary absolutely in that game and Hungary was lucky to go away with a win.
"We have shown you guys and we have shown to ourselves we can match Hungary, we have shown that. And in Portugal away, a tough away game, we can play a game against them as well.
"Obviously we need to be clinical in the chances we will get but with the Irish crowd here I think we can also manage to get something from that match. That's my belief. And you decide if you see the glass half empty or half full, it's your job.
"I don't think it matters what I say here, you will write what you think. And the power of the media is huge. So it's your decision if you see the glass half empty or half full."
