Topal topples the Irish

MARTIN O’NEILL said there remains plenty to work on after Republic of Ireland were beaten in Turkey last night.

Mehmet Topal’s sweetly-struck volley was enough to condemn O’Neill’s new-look Irish side to defeat.

But the manager said: “It was a good game to play in because Turkey showed their ability on the ball.

“We conceded from a set-piece, which is disappointing, but

TURKEY REP OF IRELAND

considering a number of our players haven’t played together, I was pleased with a lot of what we did. But obviously there’s a lot still to work on.”

O’Neill handed senior debuts to Declan Rice, Scott Hogan and substitute Matt Doherty, while skipper Seamus Coleman played for 62 minutes a day short of a year since he suffered a horrific leg fracture on international duty.

The visitors almost took an 18th-minute lead when Hogan fired into the side netting. But Turkey forced their way in front early in the second half when Yusuf Yazici crossed for Topal to volley home.

The Irish squad will reassemble in May and it remains to be seen which of O’Neill’s understudies have done enough to warrant another call-up. CRISTIANO Ronaldo scored twice in injury time to put Mohamed Salah in the shade in the battle of the superstars as Portugal came from behind to beat Egypt 2-1.

Salah, the leading Premier League scorer with 28, continued his sublime form with a goal for Egypt in the 56th minute, taking his total for the campaign to 38 in all competitions.

But Ronaldo turned the game on its head with two goals in the dying minutes.