Russia 0 - 0 Rep of Ireland
Credit:
If Ireland find themselves sitting on a plane to Ukraine or Poland come next summer, they will have a lot of things to be thankful for – not least of all the events of today. The hard-fought point earned in Russia appeared all the more valuable when ‘minnows’ Armenia hammered Slovakia 4-0 some four hours later. The results make for advanced calculations but all Trapattoni and co. will care about is the fact that Ireland’s destiny is firmly back in our own hands.
Not that it deserves to be based on the tame and ultra-defensive performance by the Boys in Green. One shot on target in 93 minutes coupled with a man of the match performance for your centre back and three goal-line clearances all testify to this. But this team is probably due a bit of luck.
And they had that in abundance today. After Kevin Doyle’s tame shot on 12 minutes, that Russian goalkeeper Malafeev barely had to move for, the hosts begin their onslaught and didn’t let up until referee Felix Brych blew the final whistle 90-something gruelling minutes later.
Almost immediately after Doyle’s shot, Russia wasted no time in exposing Stephen Ward on the left side of the Irish defence. The Wolves’ man was time and time again caught way out of position and too far infield. On 13 minutes Aiden McGeady tracked back magnificently to stop full back Aleksandr Anyukov crossing dangerously. It was a sign of things to come.
Given was called into action with Russia’s next threatening attack as he saved from Semshov who volleyed from the edge of the box. Twelve minutes later the midfielder did manage to beat Given after he was teed up by full back Yuri Zhirkov who bamboozled two Irish defenders in the penalty area. However Semshov could not beat Richard Dunne who managed to hook the ball off the line heroically. It was the host’s best chance of the half.
The manner in which Dunne saved his team on that occasion embodied his never-say-die attitude and performance throughout. Indeed, the centre back, who edged out Shay Given for a deserved man of the match award, finished the game bruised and bloodied after gashing his head in a robust but fair tackle on Zhirkov with half an hour to go. The yellow card he picked up means he is suspended for Ireland’s next game away to Andorra.
If Dunne’s swashbuckling performance needed anymore talking points, it had one more when Dunne had to sport a make-shift jersey with a no. 5 drawn crudely on it by goalkeeping coach Alan Kelly for the remainder of the game. You couldn’t make it up.
Russia continued to dominate for the remainder of the half with Arsenal’s Andrey Arshavin looking to probe and pick passes through the Irish defence. He fired over shortly before the break.
The game picked up where it left off after the restart with Dunne once again stopping Semshov three minutes in. Trapattoni’s insistence on sticking to the plan frustrated fans and, probably players alike. When he did reshuffle on the hour mark Simon Cox replaced a less than happy Kevin Doyle. The move was a straight sub when midfield reinforcement was desperately needed.
Whelan and Andrews huffed and puffed throughout but were outclassed by a Russian midfield in complete dominance. The final statistic of 63 per cent possession for the hosts who registered 26 efforts at goal was testament to this.
Aside from a few bright moments from Stephen Hunt (introduced with 25 minutes to go) and Aiden McGeady who crossed dangerously for Keane three minutes before the end, it was all the hosts who were denied primarily by a combination of Given, Dunne or sheer good fortune.
Arguably, that man Semshov, had the best chance of the game in the dying moments when he headed powerfully at Given from five yards out after an expertly floated cross into the irish box. To the striker, goalkeeper and the crowd at the Luzhniki Stadium’s disbelieve however, the shot cannoned off the Donegal man’s knees. Keith Andrews followed up with a fantastic block to ensure it was not going to be Dick Advocaat’s day.
Despite two poor performances in the past week, Armenia’s heroics mean Ireland’s destiny is in its own hands. And however unbelievable Ireland’s clean sheet was today, what’s more unbelievable is that Trap’s boys can still top this topsy-turvy Euro Qualifying Group B. Do we dare to dream?
Russia: Malafeev; Ignashevich, A Berezutski, V Berezutski, Zhirkov (Bilyaletdinov, 74’); Shirokov, Semshov, Anyukov; Zyryanov, Arshavin; Kerzhakov (Pavlyuchenko, 53’)
Subs not used: Torbinski, Shunin, Shiskin, Pogrebnyak
Booked: Anyukov
Republic of Ireland: Given; Kelly, Dunne, O’ Dea, Ward; Duff (Hunt, 67), Whelan, Andrews, McGeady; Keane, Doyle (Cox, 59’)
Subs not used: Westwood, Delaney, Foley, McCarthy, Lawrence
Booked: Ward, Dunne
Referee: Felix Brych (GER)
ExtraTime.ie Man of the Match: Richard Dunne – Enough said.
Not that it deserves to be based on the tame and ultra-defensive performance by the Boys in Green. One shot on target in 93 minutes coupled with a man of the match performance for your centre back and three goal-line clearances all testify to this. But this team is probably due a bit of luck.
And they had that in abundance today. After Kevin Doyle’s tame shot on 12 minutes, that Russian goalkeeper Malafeev barely had to move for, the hosts begin their onslaught and didn’t let up until referee Felix Brych blew the final whistle 90-something gruelling minutes later.
Almost immediately after Doyle’s shot, Russia wasted no time in exposing Stephen Ward on the left side of the Irish defence. The Wolves’ man was time and time again caught way out of position and too far infield. On 13 minutes Aiden McGeady tracked back magnificently to stop full back Aleksandr Anyukov crossing dangerously. It was a sign of things to come.
Given was called into action with Russia’s next threatening attack as he saved from Semshov who volleyed from the edge of the box. Twelve minutes later the midfielder did manage to beat Given after he was teed up by full back Yuri Zhirkov who bamboozled two Irish defenders in the penalty area. However Semshov could not beat Richard Dunne who managed to hook the ball off the line heroically. It was the host’s best chance of the half.
The manner in which Dunne saved his team on that occasion embodied his never-say-die attitude and performance throughout. Indeed, the centre back, who edged out Shay Given for a deserved man of the match award, finished the game bruised and bloodied after gashing his head in a robust but fair tackle on Zhirkov with half an hour to go. The yellow card he picked up means he is suspended for Ireland’s next game away to Andorra.
If Dunne’s swashbuckling performance needed anymore talking points, it had one more when Dunne had to sport a make-shift jersey with a no. 5 drawn crudely on it by goalkeeping coach Alan Kelly for the remainder of the game. You couldn’t make it up.
Russia continued to dominate for the remainder of the half with Arsenal’s Andrey Arshavin looking to probe and pick passes through the Irish defence. He fired over shortly before the break.
The game picked up where it left off after the restart with Dunne once again stopping Semshov three minutes in. Trapattoni’s insistence on sticking to the plan frustrated fans and, probably players alike. When he did reshuffle on the hour mark Simon Cox replaced a less than happy Kevin Doyle. The move was a straight sub when midfield reinforcement was desperately needed.
Whelan and Andrews huffed and puffed throughout but were outclassed by a Russian midfield in complete dominance. The final statistic of 63 per cent possession for the hosts who registered 26 efforts at goal was testament to this.
Aside from a few bright moments from Stephen Hunt (introduced with 25 minutes to go) and Aiden McGeady who crossed dangerously for Keane three minutes before the end, it was all the hosts who were denied primarily by a combination of Given, Dunne or sheer good fortune.
Arguably, that man Semshov, had the best chance of the game in the dying moments when he headed powerfully at Given from five yards out after an expertly floated cross into the irish box. To the striker, goalkeeper and the crowd at the Luzhniki Stadium’s disbelieve however, the shot cannoned off the Donegal man’s knees. Keith Andrews followed up with a fantastic block to ensure it was not going to be Dick Advocaat’s day.
Despite two poor performances in the past week, Armenia’s heroics mean Ireland’s destiny is in its own hands. And however unbelievable Ireland’s clean sheet was today, what’s more unbelievable is that Trap’s boys can still top this topsy-turvy Euro Qualifying Group B. Do we dare to dream?
Russia: Malafeev; Ignashevich, A Berezutski, V Berezutski, Zhirkov (Bilyaletdinov, 74’); Shirokov, Semshov, Anyukov; Zyryanov, Arshavin; Kerzhakov (Pavlyuchenko, 53’)
Subs not used: Torbinski, Shunin, Shiskin, Pogrebnyak
Booked: Anyukov
Republic of Ireland: Given; Kelly, Dunne, O’ Dea, Ward; Duff (Hunt, 67), Whelan, Andrews, McGeady; Keane, Doyle (Cox, 59’)
Subs not used: Westwood, Delaney, Foley, McCarthy, Lawrence
Booked: Ward, Dunne
Referee: Felix Brych (GER)
ExtraTime.ie Man of the Match: Richard Dunne – Enough said.
About Sam Griffin
Sam joined Extratime for the 2011 season and is now the site's features editor. He is based in Dublin and covers all the clubs in the capital. He is also prone to the odd Drogheda … View Full Profile