Stephen Kenny bemoaned Mike Maignan's ‘out of this world’ save as Ireland were denied a point against France at the death.
But the manager saw enough in the performance to insist Ireland can push the qualification cause all the way.
AC Milan goalkeeper Maignan produced a sensational save at the death to claw a Nathan Collins header from the top corner.
READ MORE: Ireland v France match report
Collins said: “I thought I’d done everything, I got as high as I could, I got power behind it, but it’s an unbelievable save - that’s the difference at the top level, it’s so frustrating.”
France led earlier in the game when Benjamin Pavard scored a screamer when latching onto a costly Josh Cullen error just outside the box.
Kenny said: “I know France lost the World Cup on penalties but I think they are the best team in the world.
“For us to win a game against a team of that magnitude, we have to carry as much of a threat as we can and control aspects of the game.
“You have to have a cutting edge in your play. We would have liked more attacking edge in our play but that’s not easy either.
“We’ve watched France’s last 20 games and I’ve never seen Kylian Mbappe have such a quiet game. I’ve never seen it.
“We had to defend our box in the first-half, and that wasn’t easy because France had height and a physical presence.
"We didn’t concede any chances up to the goal and that was disappointing. But the save from Nathan Collins is out of this world.
“It’s one of those incredible saves to deny us at the end and we’re disappointed not to get something out of the game.”
Cullen’s misplaced pass proved Ireland’s undoing after an impressive and brave display against the World Cup finalists.
Kenny said: “He actually played very well in the game and his pass completion rate is very high and he doesn’t give the ball away.
“Mainly it’s a lot of short passes and he knits the play together, so it’s very unlike him. But I’m very proud of him and it’s just one of those things.”
Kenny added: “France knew we would be tough opponents and they paid us a lot of respect and pressed us really high.
“This is a very important campaign for us and we’re disappointed that we didn’t get a point tonight, but there are still lots of points to play for.
“The big challenge is in June when we go to Greece, in the middle of the summer. Back-to-back games, Greece and Gibraltar, so we move on.”
France boss Didier Deschamps was pleased to escape with a win and said: “We may not have played as well as we can.
“Ireland defended well but we did what we had to do to win. This is a tough place to come but it was an amazing save at the end, almost as important as the goal.”
And Deschamps added: “We’ve six points from two games, we’ve scored five goals and we’ve not conceded any, so I’m proud of my team.”
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