Fotis Ioannidis and Christos Tzolis prolonged the Republic of Eire’s Nations League distress as Greece emerged from their journey to Dublin with a 2-0 victory.
Ioannidis’ achieved Fiftieth-minute end was matched by Tzolis three minutes from time to go away Eire pointless in League B2 after two fixtures underneath new head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson.
It proved to be a well-recognized story for Eire, who’ve now received simply two of the 18 video games they’ve performed within the competitors, and their solely victories – two of them – of their final 10 aggressive outings have come towards minnows Gibraltar. They’ve additionally failed to attain in 5 out of their six matches in 2024.
It may need been completely different had Chiedozie Ogbene not strayed offside earlier than producing an excellent first-half end, however the poisonous mix of defensive frailty and attacking bluntness which characterised the dying embers of the Stephen Kenny period stay points for Hallgrimsson as he turns his consideration to October’s double-header in Finland and Greece.
For the guests, a 3rd successive win over Eire – and a second on the Aviva Stadium – since June final yr, coupled with their 3-0 opening-day victory towards Finland, represents a really nice begin for brand spanking new boss Ivan Jovanovic.
How Eire had been crushed once more
Hallgrimsson was compelled to reshuffle on the again with skipper Seamus Coleman injured throughout Saturday’s 2-0 residence defeat by England, but additionally distributed with Matt Doherty and Adam Idah as he drafted in Alan Browne, Andrew Omobamidele and Jason Knight.
After beginning with a again three towards England, the Icelander, who had thought of altering form at half-time, opted for a again 4 with Omobamidele lining up at right-back and he discovered himself underneath early strain from full-back Kostas Tsimikas, who delivered two harmful crosses.
The Greeks had been dominating possession, however taking part in largely in entrance of Eire, though goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher was relieved to see defender Konstantinos Koulierakis’ Eleventh-minute header from a Tasos Chatzigiovanis nook drop simply over his crossbar.
After they did have the ball, the house facet had been struggling to interrupt by the Greece press and central defender Dara O’Shea appeared to be seeing extra of the ball than anybody else in inexperienced as they discovered themselves confined largely to their very own half of the sector.
Chiedozie Ogbene got here near giving his facet the lead
Nevertheless, they mustered their first try on aim after Knight and Will Smallbone linked properly to feed Browne, whose Twenty second-minute shot looped into goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos’ arms through a useful deflection.
Kelleher needed to palm away a Bakasetas free-kick 4 minutes later after the midfielder had been tripped by Smallbone 25 yards out, nevertheless it was Vlachodimos who was despatched back-pedalling when Sammie Szmodics chanced his arm from an inconceivable distance and angle 14 minutes earlier than the break.
Ogbene thought he had given Eire a Forty first-minute lead when he managed Jayson Molumby’s pushed crossfield move on his chest earlier than thumping a shocking shot throughout Vlachodimos and contained in the far publish, however an offside flag appropriately denied him a picture-book aim.
Ogbene virtually made amends because the whistle approached, exchanging passes with Smallbone earlier than choosing out Browne, who couldn’t preserve his effort down.
Eire’s momentum was damaged inside 5 minutes of the restart when Bakasetas was allowed to select Ioannidis 22 yards out and, with the house defence sitting off, he took a contact earlier than curling a left-footed shot previous the helpless Kelleher.
Greece’s Fotis Ioannidis gave the guests the lead within the second half
Knight headed extensive from an Ogbene cross as Eire responded, though they had been at instances disjointed of their strategy and Hallgrimsson determined the time had come to throw on striker Evan Ferguson.
Smallbone had an opportunity to salvage one thing from the sport 10 minutes from time, solely to miscontrol Robbie Brady’s pull-back and substitute Callum Robinson noticed his late try deflected simply extensive.
However Tzolis made positive on the dying, side-stepping the recovering Nathan Collins after being performed in behind the Irish defence and firing emphatically previous Kelleher.
What’s subsequent?
Eire’s Nations League marketing campaign continues subsequent month with away video games towards Finland and Greece on October 10 and 13 respectively.
