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28

2019 Ireland Disappointed After England Demolish
Scoreless Draw In Georgia
16th, Connolly left Bulgaria In Qualifier
A a r o n
October G e o r g i a

ruing the one
that got Marred By Racist Abuse
|
away after
EXAMINER late chance GEngland thrashed Bulgaria on a Sterling and Kane struck as the ond of the night from Kane’s left-
passing up a
areth Southgate’s men stood firm racism reared its head again in the
in the face of sickening racism as second period.
footed cross.
to snatch a
Play continued after the 32nd
p r i c e l e s s
IRISH Euro 2020 nightofshameinSofia. match was completed, but all the minute goal – for a while.
The Three Lions took a giant
post-match talk will be about
Southgate spoke to the referee
qualifier vic-
tory on his senior Republic of Ireland debut. stride towards Euro 2020 as they Bulgaria and the need for a fierce, and an in-depth discussion was held
The 19-year-old Brighton striker came off the bounced back from Friday’s shock firm reaction from UEFA. by the touchline, while a group of
bench with just 11 minutes remaining and had two loss in the Czech Republic, yet this For a while, this was a football supporters clad in black in the home
chances to score, forcing a solid save from keeper will match will be remembered for match. end left the stadium. A flag with the
Giorgi Loria and then firing into the side-netting in a all the wrong reasons. Rashford – one of five changes banner ‘Lauta Army’ went around
cameo which lit up an otherwise attritional 0-0 Group Nazi salutes and racist chanting from the defeat in Prague – showed that time.
D draw at the Boris Paichadze Arena in Tbilisi. marred Monday’s thumping 6-0 win confidence and skill that belied his Mings was given a supportive tap
Connolly, who marked his first Premier League in Bulgaria, where Marcus Rashford poor Manchester United form, col- on the shoulder as play surprisingly
start with two goals in a 3-0 win over Tottenham last and Harry Kane goals complement- lecting the ball on the left and shim- resumed after several minutes
weekend, said: “Like every striker, I feel I have to ed braces from Ross Barkley and mying superbly into space before rather than play being suspended,
score that at 0-0 in a game like that. I should have Raheem Sterling as the players unleashing a fizzing strike from an with England notching a fourth
scored. It’s disappointing, but I feel proud as well. showed great dignity in finishing the acute angle. before half-time as Kane swept
“The confidence levels are quite high because of match. The play was as confident as the across for Sterling to score in first-
last week and I felt if I came on, I would make an Few would have blamed finish, but Bulgaria goalkeeper half stoppage time.
impact. I feel like I did, but at the end of the day I feel Southgate’s side for walking off the Plamen Iliev could have done bet- An emotional-looking member
like I should have scored as well. It’s disappointing.” field at the Vasil Levski National ter. of the Football Association back-
Manager Mick McCarthy desperately wanted to Stadium, where play was twice halt- Popov forced a decent save out room set-up walked around the
leave Georgia with three more points in the bank ed in the first half due to racism of Jordan Pickford as the Bulgarians pitch beating the England crest to
ahead of Tuesday night’s trip to Switzerland, but was from home fans. tried to find a quick leveler, but the applause from the away fans at half-
in no mood to be too down-hearted after seeing his A stadium announcement in the Three Lions would put their foot time, when Bulgaria captain Popov
side fight a rearguard action for long periods to pro- 28th minute – the first step of the down and grab a second in the 20th spoke to some fans.
tect keeper Darren Randolph, who barely had a save UEFA protocol explained to minute. Few would have blamed the
to make despite the home side’s dominance of posses- England’s players in depth at the Sterling’s quick one-two got him Three Lions for staying in the dress-
sion. start of the international break – behind the hosts’ back line, with the ing room, yet they emerged to boos
Asked if it was a point gained or two dropped, warned fans that the Group A forward hitting a driven cross-shot and pushed on with unrelenting
McCarthy said: “I see it absolutely as a point won. encounter may be abandoned if thatBarkleytappedinatthefarpost. hunger.
They are a very good side, but we did hit the post and they did not immediately halt racist That was far from the last Sterling and Rashford were the
Duffer (Shane Duffy) could have scored the winner behavior. England goal, but it was the biggest threats as Petar Zanev had
from the corner at the end. Tyrone Mings, making his senior moment that this match ceased to an attempt for the stuttering
“Aaron Connolly’s had a chance running through debut, appeared to be subject of be about the football. Bulgarians.
and Darren hasn’t made a save, so for all the posses- some of the abuse and it looked like Shortly after England chants of Kane saw a close-range attempt
sion and moving us around, he’s not made one save. the second step would be invoked “You racists b*******, you know denied and Sterling grabbed
“We could have been better offensively, but just before half-time, only for play to what you are”, skipper Kane went England’s fifth in the 69th minute,
defensively we were very good. If you had offered resume after a brief break. to speak to referee Ivan Bebek. The with chants soon following of “Who
me four points in the games against Georgia at the A group of Bulgarian fans left the technical area was a hub of activity, put the ball in the racists’ net?
start of the group, I’d have taken it.” ground and captain Ivelin Popov with a radio message sent through Raheem f****** Sterling”.
It was John Egan who glanced a fourth-minute spoke to some other supporters dur- to the stadium announcer as Southgate hugged the forward
header against the upright from a Conor Hourihane ing a half-time break few would Southgate spoke to his players. when replacing him and Kane hit
free-kick, but Ireland chances were few and far have blamed England for refusing to A statement was read in the post before finding the net five
between until Connolly was thrown into the mix. return from. Bulgarian and English urging the minutes from time.
Asked if he might have made the move earlier in According to reports, various immediate end of racist behavior, Callum Wilson also struck the
the game, McCarthy said: “I make the substitutions officials met at half-time and decided leaving onlookers numb when play woodwork – the final act of a
as I see fit, I don’t look back with regret and think I that the teams would walk off if resumed and Barkley grabbed a sec- depressing night. C
should have done them sooner.”
Georgia boss Vladimir Weiss was once again left
to reflect upon what might have been with the
nation’s record against Ireland now standing at two
draws and nine defeats.
He said: “This was a match of football without
many chances. We tried to win, but we didn’t have
enough quality in the box. We tried shots and tried
to score from set-pieces.
“I am happy for the guys. I said yesterday we
needed to be at 120 per cent to win. Today it was
maybe 110 per cent.
“Ireland are maybe also happy (with a draw) as
by the end of the game, they played five at the
back. Maybe getting one point from Georgia is not
bad.” C