JUST as they did in Thursday's first leg, the Republic of Ireland came from behind to defeat Bulgaria in Dublin on Sunday to maintain their place in Nations League B.
Once again, Heimir Hallgrímsson found themselves a goal behind which levelled the tie on aggregate, but second-half goals from Evan Ferguson and Adam Idah turned it around as they claimed a 2-1 victory, 4-2 on aggregate, which ensured back-to-back competitive wins for the first time since 2019.
Once again, the Boys in Green began brightly with Ferguson forcing a save from Iliev and the pressure continued with Troy Parrott hitting the post, although he had also been flagged for offside.
It seemed the hosts were more likely to grab the opening goal, but just like Thursday's first leg in Plovdiv, it was the Bulgarians who got it against the run of play as from a corner, Nathan Collins made a block on Milanov, but the ball fell for Valentin Antov to crack home.
Again, the response from Ireland was good as Parrott saw a header loop over, while a Jake O'Brien header late in the half was hacked off the line.
The pressure from the hosts continued after the break as Mikey Johnston found the side netting, but the equaliser finally arrived in the 63rd minute as Finn Azaz put Ferguson through and the striker thumped high to the net.
With five minutes to go, the winner arrived as Mark Sykes sent in a cross to Idah who met it in time to lash home.
"It seems to be some kind of a trend to concede the first goal from a first attack they got," Ireland boss, Hallgrímsson told RTE.
"Obviously disappointing, but good that we came back. I think at the moment we conceded, we were in control, so it's a little bit slack and you can feel that we kind of lost that momentum with conceding the goal, but credit to the guys, they came back and played a little bit more simple in the second half, and I think that was the key.
"We were complicating it, taking too many touches, playing it too short too many times, but once we got into the spaces and crosses and stuff, we created more, so all the credit to the guys today."
Evan Ferguson lashes home the equaliser 
Next up for Ireland will be a pair of friendlies in June against Senegal and Luxembourg before their World Cup qualifying campaign begins later in the year at home to Hungary.
Hallgrímsson is happy with the progress his team has made since he assumed the reins and is hopeful that can continue for that huge push towards the back end of 2025 when qualification for the 2026 World Cup will be contested.
"The good thing about today was two strikers scored, and it's a big competition, everybody is unhappy not to be playing, and that is how it should be," he added.
"But credit to them, they get a chance and they make their feet do the talking, and that is how it should be.
"I think there are more players now understanding our principles of play, so hopefully we can just grow from now on.
"I think we've shown good signs of growth this camp, and there's been a lot of good energy and togetherness in the squad, and I hope that is a good sign for the World Cup in the summer."
