Fotis Ioannidis and Christos Zolis continued Republic of Eire’s Nations League distress as Greece beat Dublin 2-0.
Ioannidis struck within the fiftieth minute and Zolis equalized three minutes from time, leaving Eire two video games underneath new head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson , meaningless within the B2 league.
It has confirmed to be a well-known story for Eire, who’ve gained simply two of the 18 video games they’ve performed, with their solely wins up to now 10 video games – two of them – coming in opposition to minnows Gibraltar. They’ve additionally failed to attain in 5 of their six video games in 2024.
Issues may need been totally different if Chidozi Ogbene hadn’t been offside earlier than his excellent strike within the first half, however the poisonous combination of defensive fragility and sluggish assault from the embers of the Stephen Kenny period stays the hallmark of Harger Rimsen’s query as he turns his consideration to October’s doubleheader between Finland and Greece.
Christos Zolis scores Greece’s second purpose
For the guests, a 3rd consecutive win over Eire since June final yr and a second consecutive win on the Aviva Stadium, plus their 3-0 win over Finland of their opener, was a welcome reduction for brand new boss Ivan It was a really blissful begin for Jovanovic.
How Eire was defeated once more
Hallgrimsen was compelled to reshuffle his backline in Saturday’s 2-0 house defeat in opposition to England because of an damage to captain Seamus Coleman. Handed up Matt Doherty and Adam Ida in favor of Aaron Brown, Andrew Omobamidele and Jason Knight.
After beginning with a again three in opposition to England, the Icelanders thought-about altering their formation at half-time, in the end choosing a again 4 with Omo Bamidele coming in at right-back, and he discovered himself hampered early on by Stress on full-back Kostas Tsimikas.
The Greeks dominated possession however primarily performed the sport in entrance of Eire, though goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher noticed defender Konstantinos Koulierakis rating within the There was reduction when a header from Tasos Chatzigiovanis’ nook kick hit the crossbar within the eleventh minute.
Once they did get the ball, the house facet struggled to interrupt via Greece’s stress, with centre-back Dara O’Shea showing to see extra of the ball than anybody else in Greens as they discovered themselves largely restricted to their very own half. .
Chiedozie Ogbene practically gave his group the lead
Nevertheless, that they had their first shot at purpose after Knight and Will Smallbone mixed nicely to get the ball to Brown, whose shot within the twenty second minute went in through a useful deflection. The arm of goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos.
4 minutes later Bakasetas’ free kick was tripped by Smallborn 25 yards out and Kelleher needed to palm it out, however 14 minutes earlier Sami Smodic had equalized from unimaginable distance. The angle bruised Vlahodemos’ arm, and the latter was kicked again.
Ogbene thought he had given Eire the lead within the forty first minute when he managed Jayson Molumby’s cross earlier than curling a superb shot previous Vlahodemos. (Vlachodimos) and scored on the far put up, however the offside flag appropriately prevented his purpose.
Ogbene virtually made amends as the ultimate whistle approached, exchanging passes with Smallbone earlier than selecting out Brown, who could not maintain his low shot alive.
Eire’s momentum was shattered inside 5 minutes of the restart when Bakacetas was allowed to catch Ioannidis 22 yards out, touching the ball together with his left foot with the house facet’s protection idle. Shot previous the helpless Kelleher.
Greece’s Fotis Ioannidis gave the guests the lead within the second half
Knight responded with a header from Ogbene’s cross and Eire responded, though their assault was disjointed at occasions and Hallgrimson thought it was time to move to ahead Evan Ferguson.
Smallbone had an opportunity to salvage the sport with 10 minutes remaining, however Robbie Brady’s trackback went haywire and substitute Callum Robinson’s late kick The shot went barely broad.
However Zolis secured the win, evading the recovering Nathan Collins behind the Eire backline and firing a robust shot previous Kelleher.
What to do subsequent?
Eire’s Nations League marketing campaign continues subsequent month, with away video games in opposition to Finland and Greece on October 10 and October 13 respectively.
