Russian front has Irish on back foot

Russia ... 4 Republic of Ireland ... 2Long after a game that most of them had travelled to full of confident expectation had ended, the sombre procession of some 4,500 Irish fans away from the Lokomotiv Stadium and into the murky Moscow night air told the story. No celebrating in defeat for the boys in green this time. The Irish team had just turned in its worst performance in half a decade and conceded as many goals as it had in 17 years. Mournful silence was as much as their followers could manage in response.

Having grown used to the ability of this Irish team to avoid defeat in even the toughest spots, those who had made the long, expensive trip to the Russian capital were clearly taken aback by the inability of Mick McCarthy and his players to again conjure something up for them this time.

More painful, though, was the manner of a messy defeat in which Ireland weren't so much beaten by the better side as outscored by one that, on the night, was slightly less awful.

The Russians, with the veteran Victor Onopko their most impressive performer at the heart of a physically strong but otherwise average defence, showed more initiative than might have been expected from a team that had lacked fight at the World Cup finals in July. And going forward the pace of players like Sergei Semak and Andrei Kariaka allowed them the capacity to give a desperately poor Irish back four a dreadful night.

From the very start Russia injected the game with a pace and ferocity that was unexpected and they came close to grabbing an early goal. Ireland, though, had chances too and Damien Duff almost put the visitors in front in the 15th minute when Ian Harte deflected his low shot onto the right-hand angle.

When Duff went off with a thigh strain in the 18th minute, however, the balance of things lurched decisively in Russia's favour. After first Kariaka, thanks in part to mistakes by Steve Finnan and Gary Breen, and then Vladimir Beschastnykh - this time Clinton Morrison, Matt Holland and Kenny Cunningham all lent a hand - found the net for the home side, it seemed unlikely the Irish would get something out of the game.

In the end the Republic came closer than could have been expected and even created enough chances to match the home side's final tally of four goals.

Tactically the Russians won the day, though, with the ability of Kariaka and Dmitri Loskov to take up very advanced wide positions from either side of a three-man central midfield which caused problems for an Irish side that appeared hopelessly ill-equipped during the first period.

Later on, Russia's speed on the break became the main problem but had the Irish been better able to retain possession there could easily have been something more than an ignominious defeat in the game for them.

Inevitably McCarthy came in for some fierce criticism afterwards but these were almost all of the same men in whom he had placed such faith during what was regarded as a successful World Cup finals campaign.

As ever, though, he kept faith with those he might have omitted with Kevin Kilbane, looking ineffective and a little dispirited out on the wing, and Ian Harte appearing vulnerable again behind him in the left-back role.

Harte's inclusion at least looked a better call this time than it had in Ireland's last three games in Japan and Korea, where the Leeds defender was clearly out of sorts. Still, having got through the first half without too much difficulty the 25 year-old again looked poor during the second half.

Kilbane, meanwhile, played the way you would expect a man in his position at club level to, even if he displayed quite remarkable determination to chase back after every lost ball - there were so many that by the time he was replaced in the 85th minute he looked as though the effort had pushed him to the brink of collapse.

McCarthy's misfortune on this occasion was that the pair, his weakest performers, were not carried by the rest of a team that surpassed, as we have grown used to it doing, the sum of its parts.

Far from it. In almost every area there were players turning in displays that fell far below what we have come to expect of them at club level. The team's central defence was all over the place for long stretches with neither Kenny Cunningham nor Gary Breen ever looking in control.

Their difficulties, though, were exacerbated by the inability of Matt Holland and Mark Kinsella to get on top of things in central midfield. Worse still, the usually reliable Steve Finnan had picked Saturday to have his first nightmare in an Ireland shirt, a fact that started to become apparent about eight seconds into the game when a terribly casual attempt at a pass was cut out by Kariaka, who promptly raced off towards goal and came close to scoring.

Of the starting 11, Robbie Keane did at least do well, working hard and always looking calm on the ball, while many of those around him were clearly losing their heads. But little enough came off for him while playing up front and it wasn't until the second half when he dropped back to become the team's creative influence in midfield, he really began to emerge as an important figure in the game.

Shay Given, meanwhile, was not really at fault for any of the goals and Jason McAteer performed solidly even if his constant wanderings - apparently the result of a tactical plan hatched beforehand - left Finnan looking much more exposed.

Faced with a situation where eight of his players were looking suspect McCarthy must have wished we were again embroiled in a friendly where you can haul off one team and throw on another. On the night Ireland's second 11 could have done no worse.

Duff's thigh strain robbed him of one substitution and another went on McAteer, whose hamstring had been a problem in the build-up to the game. His ability to play the 90 minutes presumably weighed on the manager's mind as he evaluated the situation while 2-0 down at the interval.

Two of the three changes he made worked out rather well with Gary Doherty and Clinton Morrison scoring in the second half to, on each occasion, haul the Irish back to within a goal of their hosts.

On the first occasion, though, Alexander Kerzhakov was allowed an acre of space to restore the home side's two-goal lead within a minute of the restart when Cunningham and Harte failed to pick him up as he approached the six-yard box and the striker sent a header low to Given's left.

The second was slightly more galling, with Phil Babb attempting some sort of record for losing possession in a single sequence of play before lagging behind in pursuit of Kerzhakov, whose shot cannoned off Given and the Sunderland defender's chest before bouncing over the Irish line. Neither Ireland player seemed capable of movement for quite some time. They, like everyone else, knew the game, Ireland's status as clear cut favourites to win this qualifying group and McCarthy's post World Cup honeymoon were at an end.

RUSSIA: Ovchinnikov; Ignashevitch, Onopko, Nizhegorodov; Gusev, Loskov, Aldonin, Kariaka, Yanovsky; Beschastnykh, Semak. Subs: Solomatin for Gusev (29 mins), Kerzhakov for Beschasnikh (half-time), Khokhlov for Semak (79).

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Given (Newcastle United); Finnan (Fulham), Cunningham (Birmingham City), Breen (West Ham), Harte (Leeds United); McAteer (Sunderland), Holland (Ipswich Town), Kinsella (Aston Villa), Kilbane (Sunderland); Keane (Tottenham Hotspur), Duff (Blackburn Rovers). Subs: Morrison for Duff (18 mins), Doherty for McAteer (64), Babb for Kilbane (85 ).

Referee: C Colombo (France).