IT’S A Giroud and Liverpool target ease France past toothless Ireland in rainy Paris
Costly error for the second but pulled off some brilliant saves.
Right-back struggled to make his mark on the game.
Had his hands full with Giroud in the air and Mbappe on the deck.
Found Giroud a handful too but is becoming a go-to man for O’neill.
Waterford debutant handled himself well on a tough night.
Has yet to impress with Ireland, although this was only his third cap.
Played in front of the back four here and was calm and composed.
Deployed centrally but the game passed him by. Subbed.
Short of sharpness having missed so much of the season injured.
A bystander as Ireland couldn’t get hold of the ball to set him free.
Heavily linked with a move to Stoke but he cut a frustrated figure.
H Arter for Browne (59 mins) - 4 D Meyler for Walters (59 mins) - 4 G Burke for S Long (70 mins) - 6 A Judge for O’dowda (70 mins) - 5 S Williams for K Long (79 mins) - 5 M Doherty for D Williams (82 mins) - 5
Mandanda; Mendy (Hernandez 64), Umtiti (Kimpembe 64), Rami, Sidibe (Pavard 82); Matuidi, Nzonzi, Tolisso (Pogba 77); Mbappe (Dembele 77), Giroud, Fekir (Griezmann 64). Referee
G Kabakov (Bulgaria) COLIN DOYLE had his own Loris Karius moment and may want to forget about this game as quickly as possible.
But actually were it not for a slew of fine saves from the Bradford City keeper, France would have won by double their margin of victory.
He shouldn’t be too despondent – just curse the little Fekir instead perhaps.
At one stage in the second half, as the rain cascaded from the heavens, Les Blues were nearing a dominant 80% possession overall and it’s a wonder how they didn’t win by more.
World Cup-bound in the weeks ahead, Didier Deschamps men won at a canter and the manager had the luxury of only bringing on the heavy artillery in the latter stages.
Graham Burke, the Shamrock Rovers forward who made his debut off the bench, would be forgiven for pinching himself this morning.
Dalymount Park to the Stade de France in Paris in a matter of days, he was charged with trying to inflict a late sting on many of world football’s biggest stars.
Trouble there was that Ireland have rarely seen less of the ball in a match – and that’s saying something – although he did go close in the dying stages as the heavens opened.
On the pitch just seven minutes, the play paused for Paul Pogba and Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembele’s arrival, with PSG ace Kylian Mbappe one of those making way.
Antoine Griezmann, whose goals dumped Ireland out of Euro 2016 at the last 16 stage two years ago, had come on shortly before that.
Throw into the mix the other representatives from Manchester City, Barcelona, Juventus, Bayern Munich, Marseille, Lyon and PSG and, well, it’s no wonder the game panned out how it did.
Olivier Giroud and Liverpool target Nabil Fekir did the damage before half-time and there was never any way back for Martin O’neill’s men.
What O’neill can take from this is anyone’s guess although Burke, Shaun Williams and Derrick Williams – who started – made their debuts on an otherwise forgettable night.
And yet for 40 minutes Ireland were in the fight but they were creaking before the double whammy in that five minute-spell before half-time.
Goalkeeper Steve Mandanda and striker Shane Long were the loneliest people in Stade de France as the majority of that opening half was played inside Irish territory.
Long needs a confidence boost but
C DOYLE
S COLEMAN
S DUFFY
K LONG
D WILLIAMS
A BROWNE
D RICE
C O’DOWDA
J WALTERS
S LONG
J MCCLEAN
SUBSTITUTES