EURO 2012 QUALIFIERS GROUP B: Russia 0 Rep of Ireland 0:PRIOR TO last night, the Republic of Ireland's most remarkable achievement during the campaign may have been making half-time with a 2-0 lead in Macedonia, where the home side's inability to find the net must have left even Giovanni Trapattoni a little bemused.
His players topped that by some distance at the Luzhniki Stadium last night with an astonishing display of last-gasp defending that left a totally dominant Russia side with just a share of the spoils.
From the opening minute to the the last kick Dick Advocaat’s side had little to occupy themselves aside from the search for a goal. But somehow, sometimes bewilderingly, Ireland held out.
Richard Dunne was the outstanding contributor to the cause but Shay Given gave him a run for his money, not least with the amazing save he made in the closing minutes from Konstantin Zyryanov.
Still, the enduring image of a game in which Trapattoni’s men extended their run of consecutive clean sheets to seven and kept their hopes of a place at next summer’s European finals alive, had to be Dunne, the blood wiped from his face after he had clattered into the running track beside the pitch after yet another frantic challenge, re-entering the fray with the number five written in felt tipped pen on the back of a new and otherwise blank shirt.
Among the others to come out of the amazing encounter – the first here in Moscow in which Ireland have not been beaten – with reputations enhanced were the wide men, Aiden McGeady, Damien Duff and, after he arrived on, Stephen Hunt. Darren O’Dea had his moments too.
The pattern of the game, always predictable, was certainly clear after the opening minutes, with the Irish defending deep and in numbers while Russia looked to unpick them, primarily by working their way in from the flanks. It quickly became apparent Stephen Ward and Stephen Kelly were going to require much help from team-mates.
Both provided early evidence of the visiting side’s willingness to settle for hitting high and hopeful balls out of defence, a pattern that was to persist over the course of the first 45 minutes.
As they did in Dublin, the Russians took a firm grip in midfield where they again had an extra man. Ireland’s central pairing of Keith Andrews and Glenn Whelan did their best to hinder, but rarely halted, their advance.
Out wide, Yuri Zhirkov and, of course, Andrei Arshavin posed constant problems for the visitors but the greater threat was regularly posed by the overlapping advance of the Russian full backs, Aleksandr Anyukov and, to a lesser extent, Aleksei Berezutskiy.
The pair were free to push forward almost at will and the upshot was Trapattoni’s wingers were reduced to augmenting their side’s defensive efforts, with Duff managing a key block and clearance off the line before half-time, while McGeady dedicated himself to the containment of the Zenit right back.
Even then the Russians should have had the lead over the course of the opening half, with Dunne blocking a shot from Igor Semshov that looked certain to reach the bottom left corner.
Semshov presented the Irish defence with persistent problems, with the 33-year-old central midfielder repeatedly sweeping forward from his natural position on the right side of the team’s central defence and, often unhampered, arriving at or beyond the edge of the area as the ball was cut inside from the wings.
The Irish midfield seemed incapable of picking up his runs and they were similarly troubled at times by Roman Shirokov, who alternated between veering out to the left or pushing through the centre.
When he looked to have found a couple of yards of space deep inside the Irish area early in the second half, though, Dunne again came to the rescue with a last-gasp block, while Semshov opted when through to push the ball to his right where he mistakenly believed a team-mate was waiting after good work by Kelly.
It was desperate stuff, with Ireland, as they did on Friday in Dublin against Slovakia, appearing to ride their luck rather more than controlling things at the back. Hunt’s introduction injected the usual shot of adrenalin and he got stuck in to good effect, winning an early tussle on the edge of the area,floating in a free that produced a rare half chance for Robbie Keane around the Russian area and then picking up a booking for a slightly mistimed challenge as Ireland again retreated towards their own goal.
By the time the midfielder picked up his yellow card, Dunne had been unlucky to receive one for a tough but fair tackle on Zhirkov. Both men were hurt, with Dunne thumping his face on the running track. Having struggled to get back on, he was then ordered to change his bloodstained shirt. He returned, though, and Ireland held firm through the closing minutes with Shay Given saving brilliantly late on, Andrews producing a crucial block and Russia, somehow, proving incapable of overcoming such fierce resistance.
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND:Given; Kelly, Dunne), O'Dea, Ward; Duff, Andrews , Whelan, McGeady; Keane, Doyle. Subs: Cox (West Brom) for Doyle (59 mins), Hunt (Wolves) for Duff, (66 mins).
RUSSIA: Malafeyev; Anyukov, V Berezutsky, Ignashevich, A Berezutsky; Arshavin, Semshov, Shirokov, Zyryanov, Zhirkov; Kerzhakov. Subs: Pavlyuchenko for Kerzhakov (54 mins), Bilyaetdinov for Zhirkov (76 mins).
Referee:Felix Brych (Germany).
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