Russians inflict a heavy blow

Rep of Ireland 2 Russia 3:FOR A while last night it seemed the only thing that could possibly be louder than the stadium sound system in the Aviva might be the deafening pop of Ireland's early campaign bubble being burst. As the home team rallied from three down in what was a thrilling encounter with the group's top seeds, however, the home support almost raised the roof on a ground that suddenly felt like home again.

Those closing stages represented an astonishing turnaround for Giovanni Trapattoni’s men for the Irish trailed by two at the break and 3-0 not long after; at which point it would have taken a brave punter to bet against the visitors getting the fourth goal they required as their outstanding passing and movement threatened to make this the heaviest competitive defeat ever inflicted on the Irish team on home soil.

In the end, the hosts might easily have grabbed an equaliser and somehow salvaged a draw from an utterly compelling encounter.

Certainly, as the final whistle went Sean St Ledger was protesting wildly he had been held down deep inside the Russian penalty area as he sought to get onto the end of Aiden McGeady’s looping cross from the left.

As the excitement dies down however, Trapattoni and his men will surely take the time to ask themselves quite how they gave them themselves such a mountain to climb in the first place.

That they conceded from a set-piece just 11 minutes in to a wildly open game was disappointing but they can draw some small consolation from the fact it had taken a little bit of improvised brilliance by Sergey Ignashevich and a fair amount of good fortune before Aleksandr Kerzhakov’s close range shot reached the back of the net via the outstretched leg of St Ledger.

But by the time Alan Dzagoev made it 2-0 with a close-range finish after Kerzhakov had coolly stepped over a low cross from the overlapping Aleksandr Anyukov, it was clear the skilful Russians would only have to take their chances in order to cancel out last month’s home defeat by Slovakia and join their main rivals on six points in the Group B qualification table.

Certainly by half-time it looked over and it seemed fortunate that the FAI had Katie Taylor and the under-17 women’s team on hand to raise the spirits in the stands for the goals along with the quality of the Irish defending – and not just by the back four – had clearly had a dispiriting effect on the crowd.

At the other end the Irish had been going for it with gusto from the outset but Trapattoni’s side created fewer scoring chances and proved incapable of taking the ones they did carve out.

Most of the time, though, it seemed as if they might well mange to beat Igor Akinfeev at some stage with Robbie Keane, Kevin Doyle and Aiden McGeady posing a lively enough threat around the Russian area.

What must have horrified the manager, though, was the way the Russians were repeatedly allowed to sweep forward through midfield and towards Shay Given’s goal without encountering a meaningful obstacle.

Andrey Arshavin was expected to pose a threat down the left but the Russian skipper, partly because he was fairly well marshalled by John O’Shea, actually had a relatively quiet night.

Through the centre and particularly the other side, it was an altogether different story as the Irish were taken apart at regular intervals by the visitors’ pace and movement.

Kevin Kilbane’s pace and positioning had been a concern beforehand but if the Hull City player had his problems – and he did – he was helped very little by McGeady whose apparent inability to track back and provide cover for his left back as Anyukov bombed forward repeatedly left his team-mate chasing between opponents.

Russia’s third was a real low point for Ireland with their opponents picking up possession after St Ledger’s header out of defence and stringing together close to a dozen passes under almost no pressure whatsoever before the outstanding Anyukov picked out Roman Shirokov and the midfielder let fly with a long range effort that was deflected past Given by Richard Dunne.

For a while after, it briefly seemed as if the home side might implode completely and the Russians really ought to have got a fourth. The game must already have looked entirely safe for them and they simply couldn’t have anticipated the dramatic shift in the balance of things that was about to occur.

It started to take real shape after Shane Long and Darron Gibson had arrived on for Liam Lawrence and Glenn Whelan. Paul Green looked a far more likely candidate to be replaced but somewhere in the mix, the changes seemed to work and the Irish, having won a soft-looking penalty when Keane, who subsequently converted, went down while being chased by Yuri Zhirkov, began to get a bit of wind into their sails.

When Long’s persistence paid off and he held off Igor Denisov to make it 2-3 three minutes later after Dunne had headed down a long Given free and McGeady had failed to hit the target with an attempted volley, the Russians looked well and truly rattled and during the 12 manic minutes plus four for stoppages that followed there were a handful of frantic opportunities for the hosts to conjure an equaliser.

Russia still posed a real threat on the counter and Pavel Pogrebnyak missed a great late chance from a few yards out. Trapattoni must now ponder whether next week’s trip to Zilina represents a chance to regain momentum in light of this very eventful defeat.