Republic of Ireland claimed their first win in the UEFA Nations League as Michael Obafemi's stunning strike sealed a 3-0 victory over a lacklustre Scotland at the Aviva Stadium.

Swansea striker Obafemi lashed an unstoppable shot past Scotland's Craig Gordon from 30 yards out (51) to mark his first start for Ireland with his first goal as Stephen Kenny's side reignited their Nations League campaign with a dominant display.

Earlier, Alan Browne had put the hosts in front when he bundled in following a corner (20), with Troy Parrott doubling their lead when he headed home from Obafemi's looping pass over the top (28).

Defeats to Armenia and Ukraine had previously extended Ireland's winless run in the competition to 12 games and left them bottom of Group B1, but their margin of victory in Dublin ensures they move up to second place, above Scotland on goal difference, their hopes of winning promotion alive again.

• How the teams lined up | Match stats
• Nations League Group B1 table | Get Sky Sports

How Ireland stunned Scotland

Ireland looked fired up right from the start, pinning Scotland back in their own half and going close to an early opener when Browne's curling effort from outside the box forced a diving save from Gordon.

Scotland appeared to have shaken off the disappointment of their World Cup play-off defeat to Ukraine with their 2-0 win over Armenia on Wednesday, but they were well below par throughout in Dublin.

They had an early chance against the run of play when John McGinn shot too close to Caoimhin Kelleher after they had stolen possession high up the pitch, but the hosts were straight back on the attack.

Obafemi couldn't quite connect with a left-wing cross by James McClean as he attempted to make the breakthrough, but Ireland's pressure soon told and the opener arrived from the resulting corner.

McClean's delivery was easily headed back across goal by the towering Shane Duffy and Gordon could not do enough to prevent Browne's scruffy effort from crossing the line.

Ireland appeared in control but handed McGinn another opportunity with some more sloppiness in their own half, with the Aston Villa man this time firing narrowly wide from a similar position.

McGinn's miss was once again punished as Ireland doubled their advantage, with Parrott timing his run perfectly to meet Obafemi's chipped ball over the top with an emphatic header.

Ireland threatened to extend their lead further before the end of the first half, with Duffy proving a menace from practically every set-piece, at one point forcing an acrobatic stop from Gordon with a header at the back post.

Steve Clarke was forced to take action at the break, throwing on Billy Gilmour for defender Jack Hendry as Scotland sought to gain more of a foothold in midfield, but Ireland continued to dominate and Obafemi's brilliant goal effectively killed the contest.

The 21-year-old's swerving effort, after Ireland's pressing had forced a turnover in the Scotland half, caused wild celebrations among the home fans but it proved to be his final contribution, his early withdrawal due to injury the only negative of the afternoon for Ireland.

Indeed, it almost got even better for the hosts when substitute Scott Hogan's goalbound header had to be hooked off the line by Scotland's Grant Hanley, a VAR check eventually ruling in favour of the visitors.

Scotland attempted to muster a response in the closing stages of the game but Ireland held firm, their determination summed up by a heroic block from John Egan to deny Ross Stewart.

As the Aviva Stadium celebrated an emphatic, and, for many, unexpected victory, Scotland were left to reflect on a dismal afternoon which ensures Clarke, not Kenny, is now the manager under pressure.

Robrtson: Scotland deserved to be booed off

Scotland captain Andy Robertson:

"Nowhere near good enough. And we have now said that twice in 10 days, which isn't us. We have let the manager down, which is so disappointing for us. He set us up in a way and we never carried that out.

"Every one of us lost our individual battles which can't happen in these games. Second balls went to them, they were winning the tackles and they had the chances. And when it goes like that the result is only going one way."

He added: "To the fans behind the goal booing us off, completely correct. We know they travel a long way, we know they pay a lot of money and that performance is nowhere near good enough in a Scotland jersey.

"We will need to assess as a team, we will need to assess individually and we have to hit the reset button because everything was good last year, but this year the performances haven't quite been up to scratch as of yet.

"We need to hit the reset button and go again because we were in a good place before that. We knew they were under pressure, two defeats in the first two and they were probably getting questioned. We had to weather the storm but we didn't do it.

"We gave them easy corners, win big tackles which got the crowd up and that set the tone for the game. And unfortunately we didn't get into the game until we were 3-0 down. The overall performance was nowhere near good enough and not good enough for a Scotland jersey."

Clarke: We have to move on

For Scotland boss Steve Clarke, it proved a sobering evening on the other side of the Irish Sea 10 days after his side's heartbreaking World Cup play-off semi-final exit.

Clarke said: "Ireland deserved to win. They were on the front foot, we didn't cope with it and we played poorly and we lost."

But asked if he felt let down by his players, Clarke added: "Listen, this group of players has done fantastically for me and they've done fantastically for their country.

"We've had two big blows in the space of three games, the first time in a long time that's happened to us, and I'm interested to see how they come back as a group.

"I'm not going to criticise this group of players. They've been fantastic for me. Sometimes you have a bad day. Unfortunately, we've had two bad days in quick succession and we have to learn to deal with that and move on."

Ireland end winless run - Opta stats

• Republic of Ireland have won their first-ever game in the UEFA Nations League at the 13th attempt (W1 D5 L7), scoring more goals today (three) than they managed in their first 12 matches in the competition combined (two).
• Scotland suffered just their second away defeat to Republic of Ireland (P7 W2 D3 L2) and first since June 1963 (1-0).
• This was Republic of Ireland's biggest competitive win on home soil since October 2014, when they beat Gibraltar 7-0 in a European Championship qualifier.
• Republic of Ireland had two players aged 21 or under (Michael Obafemi and Troy Parrott) score in a competitive game for the first time since September 1997 (David Connolly and Mark Kennedy vs Iceland).
• Troy Parrott (20y 127d) became the youngest player to score a competitive goal for Republic of Ireland since Stephen Ireland in October 2006 (20y 46d vs Cyprus in a European Championship qualifier).
• Michael Obafemi and Troy Parrott became the first players to both score and assist in a competitive game for Republic of Ireland since both Robbie Keane and Wes Hoolahan did so against Gibraltar in October 2014.

Kenny: I know what I'm doing

Republic of Ireland boss Stephen Kenny when asked if the performance and result had provided personal justification:

"I'm not even viewing it like that, really. I know what I'm doing, I'm very clear on what I'm doing.

"It's been a really radical shift in the number of players we've brought through and it's very exciting, and clearly the public really identify with it and it's really, really exciting.

"We had setbacks this week, which we're disappointed with and we're not happy about ourselves, the defeat in Armenia particularly, which was a setback. That was one that we didn't want.

"But we've got to switch on to Ukraine now."

'Important to get some points on the board'

Republic of Ireland goal scorer Alan Browne:

"It was brilliant. Given our start to this campaign, tonight was a massive chance for us to really kickstart what we wanted to do from the beginning and, thankfully, we got on the end of a right result, and we had the performance to match it.

"At this level you have to be motivated for every game and I think we have been right from the start of this campaign, but we found ourselves on the wrong end of two results. Given such a shocking start, tonight was really important to us to get some points on the board."

What's next?

The Republic of Ireland travel to Ukraine (7.45pm), while Scotland visit Armenia (5pm) on Tuesday as the UEFA Nations League continues.

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