The Aston Villa defender headed into his own net to cancel out Wes Hoolahan’s fine opener at Stade de France.
The Republic of Ireland were ultimately left frustrated in their Euro 2016 opener on Monday as they managed only a single point against an underwhelming Sweden side.
Ireland had the better of the first-half play, looking the more dangerous side going forward, and created the best opportunity when Derby County star Jeff Hendrick crashed an effort off the crossbar from long range.
That dominance against a strangely hesitant Sweden was rewarded soon after the restart when Martin O’Neill’s side took the lead with a fine goal, Seamus Coleman working his way down the right well before pulling a cross back for Wes Hoolahan to slam home on the half-volley.
From there, though, Ireland failed to put the game to bed, and they were left to count the cost of that when Aston Villa defender Ciaran Clark headed into his net from Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s ball across goal.
On paper, a 1-1 draw looks a decent result for the Irish, but given the pattern of the game and the fact that it is Belgium and Italy up next, they will be kicking themselves for failing to see out a vital victory.
Here’s the story in photos of how events unfolded at Stade de France.
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