The Republic of Ireland suffered their second defeat as Greece produced one of the narrow football scores of the weekend in Euro 2024 qualifying. Anastasios Bakasetas, the captain of Greece, stole the show in Athens by converting a first-half penalty following Callum O’Dowda’s handball and then assisting Giorgos Masouras in the second half with a deftly timed pass through the defense. The visitors had drawn level thanks to Nathan Collins, but they were unable to advance. In contrast to their opponent’s 16 attempts on target, Ireland, who lost, is still searching for their first point of the qualification campaign. Brighton’s hotshot Evan Ferguson struggled mightily in Athens. The fact that Matt Doherty received a red card for fighting with a Greece player in the dying seconds of the game best expressed the anger.
As a consequence, Kenny’s team is now six points behind second-placed Greece after two games, making it even harder for them to close the gap and qualify for Euro 2024 in a year. In Athens, Ireland got off to a poor start, forcing custodian Gavin Bazunu to make two significant stops in the first seven minutes. Prior to swiping away captain Bakasetas’ bouncing effort 60 seconds later, Southampton’s custodian had to be alert to tip Dinos Mavropanos’ bouncing effort away from the top corner. And the pressure that Greece applied ultimately resulted in a goal after VAR unknowingly saw O’Dowda raising his arm to block Giorgos Masouras’ cross, giving the referee a straightforward penalty decision.
Bakasetas was on hand to hammer down the center against Bazunu from 12 yards in order to give Greece a well-deserved lead. Ireland slowed the game down, but during the following fifteen minutes, they seldom made a threat in the Greece half. But around the halfway point, they abruptly became equal. Will Smallbone’s corner was headed on by Ferguson, setting up Collins for a close-range goal? Prior to VAR’s discovery of a deep Greek defender at the near post, the goal had been initially disallowed for offside. Bakasetas’ 20-yard attempt was stopped by Bazunu as Greece attempted to regain the lead, and his even longer attempt bounced just wide of the far post.
The superb Bakasetas pulled three Ireland players out of the game to unleash the overlapping Masouras in the box, and the hosts just needed four minutes to retake the advantage. Despite Collins’ best efforts to stay on the line, the Greece winger curled in with his left foot. Similar to the first half, Ireland started the second half looking for a way to get back into the game. Doherty had a fantastic opportunity to tie the score but wasted it by shooting wide from Smallbone’s cross.
But the next significant opportunity for the visitors didn’t come until the 72nd minute. Collins was about to shoot from the outside of the box when Doherty headed down a cross, but Greece custodian Odysseas Vlachodimos parried the piercing effort. After that, as Ireland failed to neutralize their opponents’ threat, Greece had many excellent opportunities to end the game, including one for former Celtic attacker Giorgios Giakoumakis. After Doherty’s low shot was saved, the Ireland defender was sent off for inciting a crowd brawl in the dying seconds. His ban was a further blow to a defenseless Ireland.
“We were quite competitive throughout the whole game, but our defense of the two goals was where we fell short. It was disappointing in that regard,” Republic of Ireland boss Stephen Kenny said. “The other leagues continued to play through this week while the league completed six weeks earlier. The majority of the athletes had not competed in six weeks. Greece dominated the opening period and outperformed us. They exerted greater control over the proceedings, and their long 40–50 yard shifts from right to left and full-back to full-back affected us. We overestimated our ability to catch up.”
“We had a good start, but the corner kicks trapped us. We couldn’t escape after five in a row. Although the punishment was quite severe, it is what it is. Lifting your hands works against us,” he added. “At halftime, we made a move and switched to a 3-4-2-1 formation, giving us more control over the game. We actually had more power. Four minutes into the second half, we committed the cardinal sin of conceding the goal.”
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