Caoimhin Kelleher went from hero to villain as the Republic of Ireland lost 2-0 in the Nations League in Greece.
The Liverpool keeper, who made three excellent saves in the first half before Tassos Bakasetas’ 48th-minute deflection, laid the ball past Petros Mantalos to give the latter a chance to seal victory.
The win maintained the Greeks’ 100 per cent start to the tournament and kept them three points clear of England at the top of League B Group 2.
If the result was ultimately decided by luck and error, a fourth victory over the Irish in 16 months was none other than Greece still basking in the joy of a well-deserved 2-1 victory over England on a night when. they dominated for a long time.
Ireland, in search of a competitive win for the first time since March 2019 after Thursday night’s success in Finland, defended strongly for a hard-fought game but were ultimately undone in front of a party. 30253 crowd.
On an emotional night, the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium fell silent before kick-off as both teams paid tribute to Greece defender George Baldock following his death at the age of 31.
As the game progressed, Ireland’s first chance came after just four minutes when the ball was played to Evan Ferguson from Lazaros Rota, but the striker was unable to hit the target under pressure from a defender as he tried to clear.
However, Kelleher, who had earlier seen Bakasetas’ shot deflected just wide, had to do his best to clear Giorgos Masouras’s stinging 11th-minute volley after defender Liam Scales had blocked Vangelis Pavlidis’s initial effort.
Masouras failed to test Kelleher with a neat header from Christos Tsolis’ cross, but the Liverpool keeper denied Bakasetas with his foot and then demanded a response from Pavlidis.
Nathan Collins blocked another Pavlidis shot after Tsolis cleverly flicked the ball into his path as Ireland came under intense pressure but remained doggedly resilient.
Front two Ferguson and Troy Parrott saw little of the ball, but the latter briefly caused panic for Konstantinos Mavropanos when he blocked his attempt to send the ball home, although goalkeeper Odysseus Vlachodimos was on hand to save the defender’s blushes.
By contrast, Kelleher’s goal was under threat on several occasions and he had to make another save with his feet, this time to prevent Dimitris Giannoulis from making the most of Tsolis’ 29th-minute cross.
Bakasetas tested Kelleher in the 47th minute as the Greeks returned from the break in determined mood, but he was not to be denied and it was he who broke the deadlock seconds later when his shot from the edge of the box clipped Libra and flew into the net;
Ireland found themselves under the belt when Greece had a chance to end the game and Tsolis deflected over from a promising position.
Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson moved to freshen up his attacking squad as he brought on Festi Ebosele and debutant Jack Taylor for Kiedosi Ogbene and Ferguson.
Vlachodimos had to turn away Taylor’s header in the 69th minute amid a flurry of activity in the home penalty area, and the Ipswich man saw late penalty appeals waved away after his shot appeared to hit Mavropanos’ arm on the way to goal.
But the contest was over when Kelleher fed the ball to Mantalos, who rounded it before firing into the empty net.
Kalen: Disappointing to concede so quickly after the break
Republic of Ireland were narrowly defeated in Greece
Republic of Ireland midfielder Josh Cullen told RTE.
“After they scored so early in the second half, from that point on I thought we were the team more likely (to score) and I thought we had more control of the game.
“I think the first half wasn’t good enough from us but we turned things around at half-time and to go down so quickly after half-time is just disappointing. I think the boys showed great courage and bravery to come back and lift. the presentation again.
“In the end it wasn’t quite enough.”
