100% duels won – 'Unflappable' Liverpool man singled out for credit despite country's torrid night

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One Liverpool player came in for praise from his country's media despite a night to forget for the national team as a whole.

Caoimhin Kelleher has been ever-present for Republic of Ireland in their UEFA Nations League campaign, with their group involvement ending on a sorry note as they were thrashed 5-0 by England at Wembley on Sunday.

All of the goals came in the second half and there's no disputing that the match swung on the 51st-minute red card for Liam Scales, at which point the teams were still deadlocked before Harry Kane's penalty opened the floodgates.

Kelleher praised despite second half rout

It was a sore one to take for the Irish against their neighbours and rivals, but the Liverpool goalkeeper was largely absolved of any blame for the emphatic result.

Kelleher received a 6/10 in the post-match player ratings from state broadcaster RTE, with this verdict on the 25-year-old's performance: "Was his usual unflappable self in the first half but the Liverpool man wasn't really tested until England's second-half rampage. Made two good saves to prevent a sixth goal late on."

Kelleher helpless for all five England goals

It can be a rather unflattering look for a goalkeeper when they ship five goals in one match, especially when each of them came within the space of half an hour, but there's none of them where you'd look at the Liverpool stopper and fully expect him to have done better.

While collectively Ireland collapsed after the red card for Scales, Kelleher wasn't helped by the standard of defending for some of the goals, in particular the vast amount of space granted to Jarrod Bowen for his finish to make it 4-0.

As RTE rightly referenced, the final scoreline could've been even more emphatic if the Reds netminder hadn't pulled off a couple of late saves, while the stats from Sofascore show that he won 100% of his individual duels.

The 25-year-old won't care to remember this trip to Wembley, a venue where he's enjoyed the best moments of his Liverpool career to date, but we trust that he'll soon put it behind them and continue excelling for his club for as long as Alisson Becker remains sidelined with injury.

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