Magnusson winner sees Iceland end Ireland's unbeaten home run

Iceland ended Ireland's 15-match unbeaten run at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin courtesy of Hordur Bjorgvin Magnusson's free-kick winner.

Martin O'Neill fielded an experimental line-up after the 0-0 draw with Wales in their World Cup qualifier on Friday evening, and could not find a goal as Magnusson flicked a delightful finish over the wall for the only goal of the game on 21 minutes after debutant John Egan had fouled Kjartan Finnbogason.

Ireland huffed and puffed in the second half, but could not really unsettle Iceland, who were superbly organised and athletic before an impressive crowd of just over 37,000 inside the Aviva Stadium.

It was Ireland's first defeat in Dublin since they lost a friendly to Turkey in May 2014 before the last World Cup finals.

With Seamus Coleman watching in a hospital bed as he begins recovering from a double leg-break, Ireland at least took the opportunity to hand debuts to Aston Villa's Egan and Conor Hourihane, and the Preston pair of Daryl Horgan and Andy Boyle.

Absolutely not. Ireland used the match to hand debuts to several players, but were fairly disjointed as a result. Not the most memorable of occasions, but Robbie Brady was excellent as captain, James McClean purposeful driving forward while there was some really nice stuff from the lively Jonny Hayes and Daryl Horgan in the wing positions either side of half-time.

Only a handful of players will be retained by O'Neill when Ireland host Austria in their World Cup qualifier on June 11, a match they hope will see them take another vital step on the road towards at least achieving a play-off place from Group D.

A towering performance in central defence from Sverrir Ingason, who showed why has been signed by Liga side Granada. At the age of 23, Ingason is uncompromising and clearly knows how to handle the physical side of the game. Ireland lobbed plenty of crosses into the area, but Ingason was equal to the task all night.

Iceland only had four survivors from their 2-1 win over England at the Euros last summer, but invoked the spirit of the success with an assured performance.

21' - GOAL! Hördur Bjorgvin Magnusson lifts the ball over the wall, and it flies into the corner of the net. Westwood could only look at the ball fly past him low to his left. Iceland lead 1-0 on the night.

71' - Horgan is certainly getting plenty of balls in from out wide. That time, the ball looped over the Iceland goalkeeper Ögmundur Kristinsson but nobody coming in from deep to finish.

Republic of Ireland: Westwood 5, Christie 5, Pearce 6, Egan 6, Brady 7, McGeady 6, Hendrick 6, Hourihane 6, Hayes 6, McClean 7, Kevin Doyle 6. Subs: Boyle 5, O'Dowda 5, Gleeson 5, O'Kane 5, Horgan 6, Long 5.

Iceland: Kristinsson 6, Saevarsson 6, Olafur Ingi Skulason 6, Ingason 8, Ragnar Sigurdsson 6, Magnusson 6, Gislason 6, Gunnarsson 6, Aron Sigurdarson 6, Finnbogason 7, Bodvarsson 6. Subs: Eyjolfsson, Skulason, Smarason, Omarsson, Karlsson.