Cork players key as Ireland stun Portugal while Ronaldo sees red at the Aviva
Ireland's Caoimhín Kelleher celebrates during the game with Portugal. Picture: INPHO/Nick Elliott
Cork's Caoimhín Kelleher, Jake O’Brien, and Chiedozie Ogbene all starred as the Republic of Ireland reignited their World Cup qualifying campaign with a famous victory over Portugal at the Aviva Stadium.
Two first-half goals from Troy Parrott were the difference in front of a sold-out crowd on a special night that also saw superstar Cristiano Ronaldo sent off after the break, while Leesider Adam Idah was introduced in that second half.
These were parts of a box office show hosted on Lansdowne Road, an arena that had been waiting for a big production since Germany were beaten on the way to the Euros in 2016.
This was a whole new generation, the kids raised on the stories of Shane Long, and the kids were alright.
They can now qualify for a World Cup playoff if they beat Hungary away in the last group game on Sunday.
Their night began in just the second minute when Kelleher dived low to get in the way of a low effort from Ronaldo off a squared pass from Joao Felix.
Portugal were the heavyweight boxer in this production, while Ireland were the plucky underdog keeping their stance. That involved playing in a condensed 5-3-2 formation built around a flat back five with Ogbene and Finn Azaz coming back to support.
This helped close down and force the opposition into shooting positions from outside the area, like an effort by Vitinha in the 8th minute. The referee ruled that Dara O’Shea’s block was actually a handball and the resulting free-kick by Ronaldo was put out for a corner that came to nothing.
The pace was relentless, with everything dictated by Portugal in front of their travelling supporters. Ireland just held firm, with Parrott often the only player stationed up top in a green jersey.
All that mattered was keeping shape, unless space opened up and there was space to break into. That is what happened in the 17th minute as Seamus Coleman worked with Parrott to release Ogbene, who was able to win a corner off Vitinha.
The set piece sent by Jack Taylor to Liam Scales at the back post and the defender was able to knock it on for a close-range Parrott finish.
Portugal simply went back to what they had been doing from kick-off, meaning Ireland were immediately put on the back foot once play got back underway. Rúben Neves tried to turn this into an almost immediate equaliser and his strike was easily dealt with by Kelleher.
The country braced, and the punch never came as Ireland managed to get the ball back and play Ogbene through for a shot that hit the inside of the post.
Then came the second, from a pass over the top to Parrott by O’Shea. The striker danced into space before firing into the bottom right corner, just beyond the reach of Diogo Costa in the 45th minute.
It was dreamland, and things got better after the break as Portugal looked frustrated as they struggled to break Ireland down.
This manifested itself in one moment between Ronaldo and O’Shea, and a VAR check that ended with the Portugal captain seeing red.
The big finish arrived and lived up to expectations, to an adoring audience from the stands as Ireland were comfortably holding out with a man advantage. Liam Scales could have got a third during all of this but that did not matter when the show ended.
The Boys in Green had beaten Portugal.
Caoimhin Kelleher; Seamus Coleman, Jake O’Brien, Nathan Collins, Dara O’Shea, Liam Scales; Finn Azaz, Jack Taylor, Josh Cullen; Chiedozie Ogbene, Troy Parrott.
Adam Idah for Parrott (68); Conor Coventry for Taylor (68), Festy Ebosele for Azaz (79), Mikey Johnston for Ogbene (86), Jimmy Dunne for Scales (86).
Diogo Costa; Joao Cancelo, Goncalo Inacio, Ruben Dias, Diogo Dalot; Joao Neves, Vitinha, Ruben Neves; Bernardo Silva, Cristiano Ronaldo, Joao Felix.
Renato Veiga for Inacio (HT); Nelson Semedo Cancelo (HT), Francisco Trincao for Silva (63), Rafael Leao for Felix (63), Goncalo Ramos for Neves (78).
Glenn Nyberg (Sweden)
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