Ciaran Kilduff is spending his Thursday nights making plenty of money and fans.
The Dundalk forward certainly enjoyed his 28th birthday, which he celebrated by scoring the only goal of the game as the Lilywhites claimed a 1-0 victory over Maccabi Tel Aviv in Tallaght Stadium.
The goal was a valuable one, earning Stephen Kenny’s side a tasty €360,000 bonus with the win, and Kilduff’s reputation continues to swell.
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) September 29, 2016
The birthday boy came off the bench to tap home one of the easier finishes of his career but it still required intelligent positional play to score his second goal of the Europa League group stages. Kilduff also ensured Dundalk’s first ever European point when he found a late equaliser against AZ Alkmaar a fortnight ago.
But his exploits this week were rightly rewarded with a place in Uefa’s Europa League Team of the Week.
Kilduff finds himself on the left side of an attack that is spearheaded by FC Krasnodar’s Brazilian forward Joãozinho, who scored two in his side’s 5-2 home victory over Nice.
Introducing the https://t.co/kivzZlwa6p #UEL Team of the Week… pic.twitter.com/KswzriU0QQ
— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) September 30, 2016
On the other side of the front line is none other than Italian legend Francesco Totti who pulled the strings in Roma’s 4-0 win over Astra Giurgiu.
Also appearing in the XI is German international Benedikt Howedes, Southampton full back Cuco Martina and Zenit St Petersburg’s Domenico Criscito.
And we somehow doubt that Francesco Totti was offering reporters a lift home after the game, sound as he might be.
Ciaran Kilduff scores the winner against Maccabi & after I interviewed him he asked me was I alright for a lift #GreatestLeagueInTheWorld
— Phil Egan (@philegansport) September 29, 2016
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