Republic lack cutting edge but win keeps them on top
Joseph Chipolina’s own goal and a late effort from substitute Robbie Brady handed the Republic of Ireland a Euro 2020 qualifying victor y over Gibraltar.
On a night when 36,281 turned up at the Aviva Stadium hoping for a goal-fest, Mick Mccarthy’s men needed a stroke of good for tune to set them on their way to a win which keeps them top of Group D with ten points.
The Republic, whose arrival at the stadium was delayed when they had to change buses after a mechanical failure, misfired despite dominating possession, but took the lead when DavidMcG old rick’ s 29 th-minutes hot hit the unfortunate Chip olin a and ended up in the net for an own goal.
Mcgoldrick later struck an upright before Brady came off the bench to score in addedtime, but the game ended with Mcgoldrick and fellow frontmen Callum Robinson, Scott Hogan and Sean Maguire still awaiting a first goal for their country, having seen a golden opportunity pass them by.
Mccar thy had insisted in the run-up to the game that the style in which his side won did not concern him as long as they won, and admitted he would take a goal going in off somebody’s backside if it secured three points.
His comments proved prophetic and, while he may be satisfied with the result and elements of the performance, the cutting edge his team will need to convert a decent start into qualification with far more testing fixtures to come during the second half of the campaign was sadly lacking.