Republic of Ireland 1-0 Hungary: Hosts maintain unbeaten Nations League run

The Republic of Ireland maintained their perfect run in the Nations League with a scrappy 1-0 win over Hungary.

Hungary pushed for an equaliser but fell short and drop into third place behind Northern Ireland, who beat Albania, in Group B1.

The Republic of Ireland have already won promotion to League A.

The visitors frustrated the Republic but their resistance was broken down when substitute Sinead Farrelly found Heather Payne out wide.

The Everton full-back’s cross was spilt by goalkeeper Reka Szocs and Csiszar’s attempt to clear the ball saw the Hungarian captain inadvertently slide the ball into her own net.

Despite already securing top spot by dominating Group B1, Eileen Gleeson had called on her side to carry on with their ruthless streak for their final two matches.

However, their penultimate match was a low-quality affair as both sides were sloppy in possession on a bitterly cold night in Dublin.

Irish goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan was forced into an early save after Evelin Fenyvesi powered past Caitlin Hayes, and Kyra Carusa nearly nipped in to capitalise on a sloppy back pass at the other end but she could only find the side netting.

Everton’s Brosnan produced a superb save to deny Csiszar after the Hungarian captain skipped inside Megan Connolly and Littlejohn and Hungary, who still have something to play for, came close again when Viktoria Szabo’s low ball across goal was inches away from Dora Zeller.

The returning Ruesha Littlejohn fired over from the edge of the area but the best chance of the half came 35 minutes in when Payne fed Denise O’Sullivan and her low strike across goal was superbly kept out by the foot of goalkeeper Szocs.

The number of chances dried up after the restart, although Caitlin Hayes’ header was cleared off the line by Hanna Nemeth after Zeller’s 25-yard effort was easily held by Brosnan.

The Republic’s opener was deserved but the scrappy nature of the goal summed the game up and Hungary almost netted another own goal when Emoke Papi headed onto the roof of her own net.

Zeller fired into the side netting from a tight angle as the visitors looked to respond but Brosnan was untroubled despite late pressure.

The Republic of Ireland finish their campaign away to Northern Ireland at Windsor Park on Tuesday while Hungary host Albania in the race to finish in the promotion play-off position.