Soccer

All the King’s men can’t put Ireland together again as Germany hit four

Philipp Hoffman (right) of Germany celebrates with team-mate Kevin Volland after scoring for his country during the Uefa Under-21 Euro 2015 Qualifier against the Republic of Ireland at The Showgrounds in Sligo . Photograph: Peter Muhly/Bongarts/Getty Images
Philipp Hoffman (right) of Germany celebrates with team-mate Kevin Volland after scoring for his country during the Uefa Under-21 Euro 2015 Qualifier against the Republic of Ireland at The Showgrounds in Sligo . Photograph: Peter Muhly/Bongarts/Getty Images
Mon Sept 09 2013 - 22:20

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND 0 GERMANY 4

Ten-man Republic of Ireland were beaten by four goals to nil by a strong German side at Sligo Showgrounds last night.

Any hopes the boys in green had of staging a comeback in the second half were dashed when the inspirational Samir Carruthers was sent off on a second yellow card after 61 minutes.

Second-half substitute Conor Smith had a chance to pull a goal back for the home side in the 59th minute but he was denied by a superb finger tip save by the German netminder, Marc- André ter Stegen

Fourth goal
German substitute Philip Hoffman scored his side's fourth goal eight minutes from the end of a game which was watched by a crowd of approximately 2,000.

Both sides started tentatively but the Republic of Ireland made a number of promising breaks out of their defence in the opening 10 minutes.

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Ter Stegen did well to gather the ball in a crowded goalmouth following a well directed corner kick by Watford’s Seán Murray in the tenth minute.

But the boys in green fell behind in the 12th minute when a lightning break by the Germans sent Moritz Lietner through for a cracking goal that gave goalkeeper Aaron McCarey no chance.

Unhinged
And the Republic came close to conceding a second when Jonas Hofmann unhinged the Irish defence far too easily.

The Germans did make it 2-0 on 16 minutes when skipper Kevin Volland rattled McCarey’s net and Volland put the game out of Noel King’s side’s reach with his second in the 24th minute.

Shots rained down on the Republic of Ireland goal as the half progressed and in spite of the best efforts of Murray and Carruthers up front, Ireland found great difficulty in making a vital breakthrough.

Great defending by the home defence denied Nico Schulz as the action became flat, particularly from an Irish point of view.

A blasting shot by Jonas Hofmann caused further panic in a shaky Irish defence as the half drew to a close.

The Republic of Ireland fell a goal behind in their opening game against the Faroe Islands in Toftir last month but on that occasion they rallied to win by four goals to one in the end.

Only the top nation in each group plus the four best runners up will progress to the play offs for a place in the finals in the Czech Republic in 2015
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: McCarey; Harriman, McGinty, O'Connor, Duffy, Doherty, Forde, Carruthers, O'Brien, Murray, Reilly. Subs: Smith for Forde (half-time), Grealish for Reilly (77), Burke for O'Brien (81).
GERMANY: Stegen, Rudiger,Vitzthum, Mustafi, Goretzka, Volland, Lietner, Durm, Schulz, Younes, Hofmann. Subs: Bittencourt for Hofmann (half-time), P Hoffman for Younes (65), Knoche for Lietner (74)
Referee: DomagojVuckov. Croatia.