Two Late Irish Goals Give The Visiting Russians A Scare

Group favourites Russia had a firm handle on last Friday's Euro 2012 qualifier against the Republic of Ireland by leading 3-0 after 50 minutes at the Aviva Stadium but Ireland battled back late on to give the visitors a scare.

Robbie Keane's spinning cross had clipped the crossbar on seven minutes but the visitors claimed the initiative with Kerzhakov's opener and doubled their advantage on 28 minutes following a flowing move.

Kerzhakov was first to react when Ireland failed to deal with a free-kick from the left and he swept the ball home inside the six yard box.

It was 2-0 on 28 minutes as full-back Anyukov bombed down the right flank and delivered a low cross which Kerzhakov's dummied to allow Alan Dzagoev drill a first time shot past Shay Given.

Ireland showed glimpses of a recovery as the first half drew to a close with Aiden McGeady particularly lively but equally the Russians had the measure of the home defence with a total of ten attempts on goal in the opening 45 minutes.

It got worse for Ireland five minutes after the restart when Russia plundered their third in fortuitous circumstances.

Shirokov was afforded too much freedom to advance from midfield and his long punt deflected off Richard Dunne's shin to completely wrong-foot a stranded Given.

Giovanni Trapattoni introduced three substitutes as the game entered its final twenty minutes with Shane Long, Darron Gibson and Keith Fahey on for Liam Lawrence, Glenn Whelan and Kevin Doyle.

Robbie Keane pulled one back from the penalty spot with 18 minutes remaining after Yuri Zhirkov was adjudged to have brought the Spurs man down in the box.

Substitute Shane Long gave Ireland further hope by reducing the arrears by stabbing home a rebound from McGeady's saved shot.

However, despite Richard Dunne being thrust into attack for the latter stages, the Boys in Green were unable to finish the job with an equalizer in the four minutes of stoppage time.

Richard Dunne, who was once again outstanding for Ireland, frankly admitted his puzzlement at an uncharacteristic performance: "Probably over the game we did not deserve anything from the game," he said, "We probably could have been four or five goals down at half-time.

"We could do nothing (right) in the first half and they played very well, they passed the ball well and it was only late in the game when we started to play."

Dunne also pointed to Ireland's flawed preference for striking the ball long for Kevin Doyle to battle: "We seemed to have one game plan ... (was flawed) ... that was to go long and when they broke, they broke well and made it very difficult for us. It was only when we got the penalty we started to give it a go."

Dunne admitted he was puzzled as to why Ireland concentrated on seeking the head of the willing Doyle as their first option and pointed to the contrast to their football in the World Cup play-off in Paris last year.

"We proved when we played France we could play football ... we passed the ball well and showed we could play. We have got to have the confidence to do that and be braver and keep passing the ball and creating chances."

He clearly showed he was frustrated at the manner in which Ireland ceded ground and possession to Russia so easily and emphasised how it impacted negatively on the team: "The defence was knackered running up and running back ... if we want to get control of a game we have to pass the ball rather than kicking it long all the time but we are not comfortable doing it."