Ireland battle bravely in Greece but it's another defeat for the Boys in Green

Greece 2 Republic of Ireland 0

A gallant defensive performance by the Republic of Ireland ended in vain as they went down 2-0 to Greece in the UEFA Nations League at the Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis in Athens on Sunday night.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s team were under pressure from kick-off, and they were undone by goals from Tasos Bakasetas and Petros Mantalos.

The Boys in Green are now facing relegation to League C, and their position in the group will be decided after games with Finland and England next month.

Despite this, there are positives, especially after the team’s 2-1 victory at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki last Thursday.

Hallgrímsson made just one change from the group that came from behind to beat Finland that night, with Troy Parrott replacing Finn Azaz.

This team was set up in a 4-4-2 formation in Athens with Chiedozie Obgene doubling up on the right with Dara O’Shea.

As they settled in, Evan Ferguson latched onto a mistake by the Greece back-line in the 4th minute and fired over.

The home side, emboldened by their victory over England last week at Wembley, went on to dominate possession. 

Their first shot on target came from a Scales deflection and Giorgos Masouras’ close=range volley was pushed away by Caoimhin Kelleher in the 11th minute.

The Olympiacos winger was out to score and get his third goal against the Republic of Ireland in two years, and he was denied a header at the back post when Dara O’Shea lunged in to get the ball away.

Masouras wasn’t the only Greek player getting into these positions. 

Vangelis Pavlidis was played into space on the penalty spot by Bakasetas at the 20-minute mark, and two shots in quick succession by the striker were stopped by Kelleher.

Ireland took a second to reset after they got the ball back, but it meant very little as Greece quickly muscled in and won possession.

They used this to set up Dimitris Giannoulis for a strike at the back post in the 29th minute and Kelleher got to this with his legs.

Ireland only got through the Greek line once, and a weaving run by Ogbene run a corner at the end of the first half won the team a corner. Brady’s set-piece failed to create something meaningful and the two teams were deadlocked at the break.

The restart saw a slick passing room that teed up Bakasetas for a shot that went straight into the hands of Kelleher.

It looked like Ireland were holding firm, and then the Greek captain tried his luck from distance and his shot went in via a Scales deflection with 48th minutes on the clock.

Ireland enjoyed their best spell around the opposition’s penalty area once the game got back underway. 

This involved some neat interplay and it led to a Robbie Brady free-kick which went to the back post before Greece cleared their lines.

Jack Taylor was brought on in the 57th minute and the Ipswich Town midfielder marked his senior Republic of Ireland debut with a glancing header from a Josh Cullen cross that flashed wide.

Ireland pushed up late on in an attempt to equalise, which created room for Greece to break. 

Mantalos had the final say, by firing into an empty net in added time.

GREECE: Odysseas Vlachodimos; Ntinos Mavropanos, Dimitris Kourbelis, Giorgos Masouras, Christos Tzolis, Tasos Bakasetas, Vangelis Pavlidis, Lazaros Rota, Pantelis Hatzidiakos, Dimitris Giannoulis, Manolis Siopis.

Subs: Dimitris Pelkas for Masouras (65); Tasos Douvikas for Pavlidis (72), Christos Zafeiris for Bakasetas (72), Kostas Tsimikas for Kourbelis (82), Petros Mantalos for Tzolis (82).

IRELAND: Caoimhin Kelleher; Liam Scales, Dara O'Shea, Josh Cullen, Sammie Szmodics, Evan Ferguson, Robbie Brady, Jason Knight, Troy Parrott, Chiedozie Ogbene, Nathan Collins.

Subs: Festy Ebosele for Ogbene (57); Jack Taylor for Ferguson (57), Jason Knight for Molumby (73), Mikey Johnston for Szmodics (73), Kasey McAteer for O’Shea (82).

Referee: Joey Kooij (Netherlands).