Much changed Ireland slump to dour draw with Luxembourg

Irish Examiner

3 days ago

LUXEMBOURG 0 IRELAND 0
In the city of free transport, Ireland's journey towards World Cup optimism was slowed by Luxembourg.
Twice they came close to winning the stalemate by striking the woodwork – Nathan Collins in the first and substitute Jack Taylor three minutes from the end – but the hosts were probably deserving of their draw.
Thankfully, it didn't cost vital dropped points and there's the consolation of knowing that the rested trio of Josh Cullen, Finn Azaz and Mikey Johnston will return for the opening September qualifiers against Hungary and Armenia.
Taylor will be the player across this double-header who advanced his claims for inclusion but others can't complain if birthday boy Heimir Hallgrimsson sticks with the tried and trusted.
It's almost four years since Ireland concluded a lame World Cup qualifying campaign with the solace of a 3-0 win here but none of that team were in from the start of this rematch.
Hallgrimsson promised changes and giving Jake O'Brien an audition in the right-back position he's made his own at Everton was an interesting plotline for an end-of-club-season friendly.
Troy Parrott and Evan Ferguson were the other newcomers of the five, along with goalkeeper Max O'Leary, who was handed his debut, and Killian Phillips in for his full debut following an impressive cameo on Friday.
Sustaining the tempo from that showing against Senegal, when they came within 10 minutes of beating the 19th best team in the world, was the primary challenge for Ireland.
Whereas they began brightly at home, replicating it against a side 52 places behind the Senegalese proved a struggle.
Parrott was the livelier of the two forwards. Ferguson's paucity of gametime over the season, a total of three Premier League starts at two clubs, appears to have stalled his gallop, for he was off-colour.
Not once in the first half did the tall striker win an aerial duel while his ground game wasn't slick either.
Although there was a gradual improvement in the second half, a booking incurred while tracking back encapsulated an evening which ended by making way for Adam Idah with 15 minutes left.
Robust attention by three home centre-backs was particularly meted out to Parrott.
His retaliation for Seid Korac's shirt tug early on almost got him in bother but approaching the break another foul led to Ireland's only attempt at goal of the opening half.
Robbie Brady's threat from set-pieces was curtailed by a calf injury which forced him off after 21 minutes but there was an able replacement in Will Smallbone.
His free-kick was telegraphed to the endline where Dara O'Shea flicked his header back goal.
As rehearsed, his central defensive partner Collins timed his run to connect, unfortunately nodding his effort off the upright.
That aside, Ireland's attack was hampered by an absence of cohesion. A concoction of overhit passes and teammates being out of sync highlighted the difficulties in gaining consistency on the international stage. With experimentation does come the requirement for tolerance.
Where the manager will be concerned was the frequency of counterattacks Ireland coughed up. The elimination of being caught on the break constitutes a hallmark of the Icelander's creed and the progress made on the front against Senegal regressed here.
When Jason Knight's 35th-minute stray hook into the box was easily cleared, Luxembourg broke at pace through Aiman Dardari and it took Kasey McAteer scampering back to negate the danger by conceding a corner.
Six minutes earlier, a turnover triggered their clearest opening.
Ferguson's layoff to Phillips went awry when the receiver slipped, allowing Danel Sinani to advance at pace and crack a right-footer from 25 yards that O'Leary expertly tipped around the post. That was his main contribution to his clean sheet.
Luxembourg did have Gerson Rodrigues leading their line, despite the continued protests over his continuity following an 18-month suspended sentence. Unlike the hostile reaction to protests at Friday's defeat to Slovenia, no banners were confiscated.
The biggest of them said 'Red Card For violence against women' while his every touch was booed by the Irish travelling support. All that the striker who scored the 2021 winner in Dublin could fashion was a sole wayward shot.
This wasn't a night for the forwards on either side to flourish. Eight minutes into the second half, Parrott found himself three yards out from goal when McAteer headed a delivery by Brady's replacement Ryan Manning back across goal.
In keeping with the evening of imperfections, Parrott neither controlled the pass nor swept it home, enabling his shadow Korac to smother the threat.
Knight's heel deflected a Laurent Jans shot out for a corner, O'Leary repelled a narrow shot from substitute Vincent Thill and Dardari rifled over but Ireland shaded the second half on the chance count metrics.
Much of that stemmed from the introduction of Taylor. His surging run from midfield led to a through ball for Parrott to lob the advancing goalkeeper Tiago Pereira. Whether it was a delay in the pass or urgency of the run but the offside flag ruled the 66th minute goal out.
Once Taylor's piledriver rebounded off the crossbar, Ireland were content to see it out for only their second shutout of the manager's 10-game reign.
Hardly a one-way ticket to America, Mexico and Canada next year but not a setback either.
This wasn't the match nor the result Ireland desired for their final friendly yet they'll take it as a pitstop.
LUXEMBOURG: T Pereira; E Dzogovic, L Jans (V Thill 63), S Korac, D Carlson (L Gerson 89), F Bohnert (M Pinto 62); A Dardari, L Barreiro, D Sinani, T Moreira Cruz (E Duarte 89); G Rodrigues (E Veiga 82).
IRELAND: M O'Leary; J O'Brien, N Collins, D O'Shea, R Brady (R Manning 21); J Knight (JP Finn 90), K Phillips (F Ebosele 56); K McAteer (M Doherty 76), W Smallbone (J Taylor 56), T Parrott; E Ferguson (A Idah 76).
Referee: Stefan Ebner (AUT).
Attendance: 6,312.