IRELAND GET HELPING HAND
Brady saves Ireland and Kenny’s blushes
DON’T be fooled by Ireland’s second Nations League win of a underwhelming campaign. Robbie Brady’s 91st minute penalty gave the Boys In Green victory at the Aviva against a side that played the six minutes of stoppage time with nine men following the dismissal of Hovhannes Hambardzumyan and Artak Dashyan in the immediate aftermath of the spot-kick decision.
But Stephen Kenny can hardly claim any kudos from this win in front of 41,718 fans.
The penalty was correctly awarded following a VAR review by referee Rade Obrenovic for Dashyan’s handball from Dara O’Shea’s close-range shot in the 86th minute.
But the Armenians — who conceded 14 goals in their last four games in this competition — can have genuine cause for complaint with the Slovenian official who somehow failed to book Jayson Molumby for his foul early in the second half having been yellow carded in the first period.
Opener
Had Molumby been dismissed in the 48th minute, would the Armenians have shipped a second goal a few minutes later to Michael Obafemi, adding to John Egan’s 18th minute headed opener?
So Ireland scraped their second victory in Group B1 against a team ranked 92nd in the world.
And the manner in which the Irish twice conceded in the space of 90 seconds from the 71st minute to surrender a two-goal lead is the real story of these 90 minutes between two sides seeking to avoid the drop to League C.
While the strikes by Dashyan in the 71st minute and Eduard Spertsyan in the 73rd were well taken, they were both the result of poor Irish defending and the failure to close down when required.
Dashyan fired home when Vahan Bichakhchyan’s effort struck the post.
Then, inexplicably, substitute Conor Hourihane played a dreadful square pass across his own half to allow the clever Spertsyan to intercept and curl home.
The obsession with needlessly playing from the back has cost Ireland dearly in Kenny’s two years in charge yet the lesson has yet to sink in.
Some fans responded with boos and it was hard to disagree with their assessment.
Ireland proceeded to lose the ball several more times and the visitors looked the more likely to find a winner.
Then football fate intervened and O’Shea’s shot produced the
winning goal for Brady.
The FAI didn’t intend to review Kenny’s contract if his side won last night but will they now change their minds?
The Armenians came to Dublin on the back of four consecutive Nations League defeats since their 1-0 win over the Irish in June in Yerevan.
Poor
Underlining their poor record in recent times, their last win on the road came in September 2018.
Not that the Boys In Green’s record at home in competitive fixtures under Kenny was anything to write home about with just one success in nine attempts — the 3-0 victory over Scotland in June.
Jeff Hendrick replaced the suspended Josh Cullen in midfield while Robbie Brady came in for James McClean at left wing-back in the other change from the weekend defeat to the Scots.
Armenia coach Joaquin Caparros went into the game having run the gauntlet of their sports media in the wake of their 5-0 home drubbing by Ukraine on Saturday.
This probably ensured that they were going to be even more defensive minded than they had been on home soil.
So it proved with their 5-3-2 formation sitting deep and inviting the Irish to seek to unlock them.
The home side began brightly and Jason Knight’s fine cross from the left in the 11th minute was glanced wide of the far post by Obafemi.
Egan then headed narrowly wide when Brady’s corner reached him via O’Shea’s header but Egan’s precision in the box told within two minutes.
Parrott won a corner following neat work by Doherty and when Brady delivered his corner from the right with pace and direction, Egan applied the right power with his header to find the corner, even if keeper David Yurchenko was slow with his dive.
With the pressure on the side released, the breakthrough would surely allow the Irish to push up a gear and secure a second goal by the interval.
Strangely, while the home side’s attacking intentions didn’t deviate from their game plan, there was a lack of bite in their play and the Armenians defended without breaking any sweat.
Trigger
Hendrick’s cross did trigger a rushed fisted clearance from Yurchenko that fell to Brady but his shot on target was blocked at the expense of a corner.
Hendrick then latched on to Collins’ clever ball down the inside right channel but his cross was deflected out for a corner.
Molumby’s tendency to lose his composure saw him pull back Artak Grigoryan three minutes into the second period but referee Rade Obrenovic — only taking charge of his second senior international — decided not to book him.
But Kenny replaced him with Conor Hourihane within three minutes and by the 52nd minute the
Irish were two up.
O’Shea’s swift and precise pass from his own half down the middle picked out Obafemi who spun skipper Varazdat Haroyan to then beat Yurchenko with a low, right-foot shot that flew inside the post.
Surely nothing could now stop the Irish from winning their fourth competitive match in 21 outings under Kenny?
Ultimately, it needed an injury spot-kick to secure this hollow win.