Ireland vs. Sweden: Score and Twitter Reaction from Euro 2016

Republic of Ireland had to settle for a 1-1 draw in their Euro 2016 opener against Sweden at the Stade de France in Paris after Ciaran Clark's own goal cancelled out Wes Hoolahan's terrific opener on Monday.

Ireland dominated much of the first hour and went ahead early in the second half when Hoolahan fired home from space on the left edge of the box.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic then took the ball to the byline after an excellent passing move from the Swedes and drilled a cross into the box that was turned into his own net by Clark 19 minutes from time.

Despite their early dominance, Ireland were clinging on somewhat by the end of the match, and a draw was a largely fair result in the opening match in Group E.

UEFA Euro 2016 provided the starting lineups ahead of kick-off:

Sweden looked the more comfortable side in the opening exchanges, but Ireland had the first real opportunity as the excellent Jeff Hendrick forced a smart save from Andreas Isaksson after a long-range effort in the ninth minute.

Eight minutes later, Ireland should have gone 1-0 up, but John O'Shea made a mess of an easy finish from two yards out after Clark's knockdown from a Robbie Brady delivery, per Match of the Day:

Martin O'Neill's side continued to grow in confidence and were much the more threatening side in the second half of the opening 45 minutes.

With star man Ibrahimovic unable to get into the game, Sweden looked inferior, and it was one-way traffic in the main up to half-time, per football writer Miguel Delaney:

Just before the half-hour mark, Brady's rasping shot from the edge of the area whistled just over before Hendrick then rattled the crossbar with a long-range effort in the 32nd minute.

Upon returning after the break, Ireland were back at Sweden again immediately, and Hendrick forced another decent save in the 26th minute with an attempt from outside the box.

And Isaksson was then finally beaten two minutes later when Hoolahan hooked in a brilliant right-footed finish after excellent buildup work from Seamus Coleman.

The Everton full-back skipped his way to the byline and clipped a cross from the right that Hoolahan met in space on the half-volley and powered into the back of the net.

Per the Guardian's Owen Gibson, the Irish fans responded in predictably enthusiastic fashion:

But Sweden also responded, shocked out of their malaise by going a goal behind.

They almost found an immediate equaliser from a corner as Darren Randolph was forced to make a brilliant one-handed save from the first header before Emil Forsberg made a mess of his attempt on the follow-up, blazing wide from eight yards out.

Sweden had claimed the momentum, and Ibrahimovic curled a volley past the post on the hour after Martin Olsson's excellent clipped cross into the penalty area.

The Swedish talisman then forced the equaliser in the 71st minute as his cross from the byline was headed in by Clark as he tried to stop it from reaching the onrushing Seb Larsson.

Per Delaney, it had been coming:

In fact, the own goal drew Sweden level in a performance that did not produce a single shot on target, as Bleacher Report UK noted:

Ireland looked to be tiring, and Olsson caused numerous problems as he piled forward on the left, but there was no end product as he sent in cross after cross.

It was a scrappy end to the game as indiscipline crept in, and both sides were seemingly content to settle for a single point as neither could force a final telling opportunity.

Post-Match Reaction

Ireland manager O'Neill praised his side's performance as "fantastic" following the encounter but rued missing out on a "deserved" three points, per RTE Soccer:

Meanwhile, goalscorer Hoolahan also praised his team-mates and said the Irish side would now look forward to their next clash against Belgium on Saturday, per BBC Sport's Alistair Magowan:

We created a lot of chances. In the first half we were excellent and at the start of the second half as well. The boys should be proud of themselves. It's a great point in the end. We will look forward to playing Belgium next, watch tonight and see how it goes.

Ibrahimovic also spoke to SVT (h/t Alexandra Jonson of Marca) about his team's opening performance, looking forward to the rest of group play.

"The second half was a lot better than the first but we lack quality. We can play so much better than this," Ibrahimovic said. "We play the way we do, we try and try. Sometimes it's good sometimes bad, but the most important thing is that we didn't lose."