Republic of Ireland 0 Slovakia 0:A performance littered with errors and indecision left the Republic of Ireland's Euro 2012 hopes hanging by a thread. Three points was the order but the home side failed to convert three second-half chances and pave the way for a more optimistic trip to Moscow.
After Russia beat Macedonia 1-0 earlier in the day, they now top the group on 16 points, two ahead of this evening’s protagonists, with three games remaining.
The early goal with which Ireland wanted to set the tempo never arrived and never looked like arriving. Unusually for the home side, they had more than their share of possession but the partnerships where it mattered didn’t click.
Up front, Kevin Doyle’s touch was rarely assured and he either chose the wrong option or delayed the right one too long. Aiden McGeady’s passing, perhaps understandably, was wasteful, while linking up with Stephen Ward proved difficult due the latter’s reluctance to push on when the opportunity arose.
They did work well in defence, however, and both made good covering interventions when needed.
Ireland’s first and only real sight of goal of the opening quarter came from Robbie Keane’s decision to drop deep and find Duff in space on the right. The Fulham winger chose to use John O’Shea’s overlapping run and the Sunderland midfielder found his captain in the box but the, admittedly difficult, attempted volley was miscued.
Filip Holoska made a nuisance of himself at the other end, with physical challenges on both Richard Dunne and Seán St Ledger, who twice brought unnecessary pressure with needless fouls, having got little protection from Portuguese referee Pedro Proenca.
The first passed off without incident thanks to McGeady’s charge down of Jan Durica’s shot, but the second created enough disharmony in the Irish defence to bring about a sustained spell of pressure as Marek Hamsik, Vladimir Weiss and Miroslav Stoch, who had already showed good feet inside Ireland’s box to test Shay Given, exerted more influence behind Holosko.
Given’s second save came after that free had been half cleared and Holosko rose highest to glance one towards the foot of his left-hand post. Subsequent efforts by Ireland to get out of their defensive third were thwarted by Doyle’s indecision and the inability of Glenn Whelan and Keith Andrews to control possession between a five-man Slovakian midfield.
When Duff did finally get the ball while facing the opposition goal, after Whelan’s quick thinking, he managed to work a one-two with an advanced Andrews to take a touch into the box before his surely struck volley was beaten away by Jan Mucha.
Duff twice got in behind the Marek Cech in the opening five minutes of the second half. Both times Andrews was in support, but only on the second occasion did he manage to get a ball in which was hurriedly cleared to an onrushing Whelan. His two touches into the box were good but he went down too easily for referee Proenca’s liking.
It was better, though Weiss’s shot across Given’s goal after a swift Slovak counter offered a reminder of the perils of the old ‘attacking in numbers’ tactic, while St Ledger was brave when effectively tackling Holosko with his face and brilliantly blocked Hamsik’s effort on the hour after his striker found him in space just inside the box.
Doyle gave one bad pass too many for Trapattoni by the 64th minute and was replaced by Simon Cox, whose chance tonight may not have come were it not for an injury to West Brom team-mate Shane Long.
One imagines it was all a little open for Trapattoni’s liking and when Weiss got in behind again, even Given looked flustered and conceded an indirect free inside the box when changing his mind on a clearing throw and then picking it up again. Mercifully, for all concerned , Durica’s attempted shot through the wall was blocked and St Ledger, again, dealt with the cross that came back in.
With that scare out of the way, Whelan and Andrews finally interchanged passes to find Duff out wide right. His cross was perfect for Keane, but the captain somehow directed it over the bar from five yards.
Keane did well, soon afterwards, to control a long ball into the box and find Cox but under pressure the striker pulled his shot wide of the right-hand upright.
In a late rally, that yielded two corners and frantic pressure, Dunne eventually headed woefully off target from a Stephen Hunt cross.
With it went the chance of three points and very possibly qualification.
Republic of Ireland:Given (Aston Villa); O'Shea (Sunderland), Dunne (Aston Villa), St Ledger (Leicester City), Ward (Wolves); Duff (Fulham), Andrews (Ipswich Town), Whelan (Stoke City), McGeady (Spartak Moscow) (Hunt 85); Keane (LA Galaxy), Doyle (Wolves) (Cox 64).
Slovakia:Mucha (Everton); Pekarik (Kayerispor), Durica (Lokomotiv Moscow), Skrtel (Liverpool), Cech (Trabzonspor); Karhan (Spartak Trnava), Kucka (Inter) (Guede 77); Weiss (Espanyol), Hamsik (Napoli), Stoch (Fenerbahce); Holosko (Besiktas) (Vittek 88).
Referee:Pedro Proenca (Portugal).
