McAteer ´over the moon´ to score on first Ireland start

Kasey McAteer says he is “over the moon” to mark his first Republic of Ireland start with a goal in their 1-1 friendly draw with Senegal on Friday.

Ireland looked set to earn a win at the Aviva Stadium but could not hold out against Senegal’s second-half pressure.

McAteer scored a deserved opener for the hosts in the 21st minute, pouncing on the rebound of his own saved header to fire into the empty net.

Senegal, who were without key players in Sadio Mane, Kalidou Koulibaly, and Nicolas Jackson, improved after the break, with Caoimhin Kelleher, who recently secured a move to Brentford, proving his worth.

He made a stunning fingertip save to turn Krepin Diatta’s header onto the crossbar and staunchly protected his clean sheet.

However, Kelleher was eventually beaten in the 82nd minute – the goalkeeper denied Cherif Ndiaye but could not react quickly enough as substitute Ismaila Sarr fired in the equaliser.

McAteer, who became just the third Leicester City player to score for Ireland, was delighted to get on the scoresheet.

“I am over the moon. I think you could tell by my celebrations that it was like a dream come true,” McAteer said to RTE 2.

“It was my first start at the Aviva, and I am hoping for many more, and it was nice to get on the scoresheet.

“It is a shame we couldn’t hold on to get the win, but Senegal are a really good team, and we’ll take it in our stride.”

This was Ireland’s first draw in 12 games, with their previous 11 games either wins (five) or losses (six).

It was also the first for Heimir Hallgrimsson, who took charge of his ninth game with the nation.

He was full of praise for McAteer, who finished with a team-high 0.7 expected goals (xG). He also had two shots on target, and six touches in the opposition box, also the highest among his team-mates.

“Kasey McAteer had a really good performance today,” he told RTE 2.

“You always put out some questions when you play games like this, and you get answers. That is the aim to get answers. Some are good, and some are bad.

“He showed a lot of confidence, and he took players on and got the goal as the reward. I’m really happy for him.”