Stephen Kenny left Serbia convinced the Republic of Ireland would not have lost their opening World Cup qualifier had they been awarded the penalty they deserved. Kenny’s men took a surprise lead in the Group A fixture at the Rajko Mitic Stadium in Belgrade when Alan Browne ended their wait for a goal after 11 hours and 18 minutes of football, but ultimately ended up on the wrong end of a 3-2 scoreline. However, they were devastated not to be awarded a second-half spot-kick when striker Aaron Connolly went down under Stefan Mitrovic’s challenge at 1-1, only for Italian referee Davide Massa to wave away his claims.