Austria manager Ralf Rangnick branded Troy Parrott as "probably the man of the match" after the Republic of Ireland's 2-2 draw with his side at Aviva Stadium.
A sensational first-half solo goal and penalty from the Real Betis man had put the Boys in Green in control of the UEFA Nations League group match.
But Heimir Hallgrimsson's side were not able to hold on as Austrian subs Alexander Prass and Michael Gregoritsch wiped out the two-goal lead.
As the dust settled, former Manchester United interim head coach Rangnick was magnanimous about Parrott's impact.
"I mean, as long as he was on the pitch, he was probably man of the match I would say, not only because he scored a brilliant goal but also because he was involved in any of the offensive situations that Ireland created," he said.
"So to me, it was an excellent performance and the whole team, I think the first half or even the first 55 or 60 minutes, Ireland did extremely well, physically and tactically.
"So it was a difficult game for us to play and in the last 30 minutes I think we were the better team. In the end, we could have even won the game.
"Overall, I think in total, the 2-2 is a result that is, at least for us, OK."
In pre-match press conference on Wednesday, the German had opined that he had seen "two different faces" from his analysis of Ireland's performances against Kosovo and Israel last week.
The first had ended in a flat 1-0 defeat in Pristina, while the controversial latter fixture had seen Ireland bounce back with a 3-0 victory on neutral ground in Debrecen, Hungary.
Rangnick told RTÉ Sport that the Irish performance at Aviva Stadium was more in keeping with the display against Israel, with the added buoyancy of a vibrant home support.
"Ireland were very strong. It was similar to the way they played against Israel," he said.
"I think especially with this being their first game played in their own stadium, played in front of fans, they were determined to really put on a good face and we saw that in the first half.
"I had to talk to my players about that. That's why we made changes at half-time. We came out much better after those changes."
