UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE THIRD QUALIFYING ROUND, FIRST LEG: Shamrock Rovers 0 Juventus 2:NOT QUITE the nightmare that might have been feared by some amongst the home support but a long way too from the dream scenario of Rovers taking a draw or better to Modena for the conclusion of this tie in a week's time.
In the circumstances, it seems safe to assume that the next Europa League game to be played in Dublin will be the final next May.
Rovers, to be fair, gave it their all and turned in a credible performance, but, as sometimes happens in European competition,they were simply beaten by a much better side.
The Italians looking comfortable enough throughout and Brazilian-born striker Amauri, a target for frustrated Juve fans last season due to his dismal strike rate, bagging a goal in each half to all but guarantee his side’s progress.
After all the talk beforehand about keeping it scoreless for as long as possible, the Dubliners ended up keeping the Italians at bay for scarcely three minutes before they allowed Amauri the opportunity to put his side in front pretty much the first time they had ventured forward.
The goal itself was a soft one to concede, with Juve winning a throw in on the right from which Diego picked up possession. He quickly fed his strike partner, who coolly slipped the ball past Alan Mannus as the goalkeeper came off his line to narrow the angle.
Belatedly, Aidan Price made an effort to prevent the ball bobbling across the line just inside the right-hand post but in the end, he couldn’t quite keep it out.
Conceding at home was clearly a major setback for Michael O’Neill’s side but the bigger problem over the course of the opening half hour was the pace at which the Italians moved the ball about in midfield and towards their area.
Pressed back for long spells during which Stephen Rice made a particularly valiant attempt to afford some protection to his centre-back, but everyone had to lend a hand. Rovers survived a couple of very close shaves with Pepe heading just wide when, under no pressure, he should have hit the target and Davide Lanzafame having a decent strike deflected into the side-netting.
Mannus coped well at set pieces, repeatedly gathering cleanly under pressure and he didn’t really have to much to do from play with most of Juve’s attempts to work the ball into the box smothered before the chance had arisen to shoot.
Still, the hosts did look second best in just about every department and were incapable of retaining possession long enough to get bodies forward in support of their lone striker, Gary Twigg. The Scot clearly found it very difficult to make any sort of impact as he floated up front between Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci.
Towards the tail end of the opening half that began to change slightly, with the home side managing to exert a little more pressure and, most memorably, winning a corner which Marco Motta did well to get to before Price had the chance to.
Not long after the break Dan Murray had what was probably his side’s best chance of the game. James Chambers’s free across field found the the tireless Thomas Stewart, who picked out the defender well, only to see his flicked header fly narrowly wide.
Suddenly, the contest didn’t nearly look so one-sided, although the home support were reminded how easily their team’s lingering hopes of salvaging something from the night might have been extinguished when Murray was caught out by Amauri, who skipped away from the defender before again beating Mannus, only to see his effort strike the foot of the post.
By then, O’Neill had sacrificed the defensive shield Rice had provided in order to bring on Billy Dennehy and shift Stewart up front alongside Twigg. The switch marked the start of a more determined search for a goal and there were a couple of half chances during the spell that followed.
Rovers, though, never quite looked on top of things at the back and with less bodies behind the ball, they started to look more exposed, something the Italians capitalised on 15 minutes from time when Amauri got between and above Murray and Craig Sives to head in off the right-hand post.
Late on, the striker came close to wrapping up his hat-trick with what would have been the best of the lot; a rasping right-footed drive from 25 yards out that soared just wide of the angle.
With the pressure essentially off, the Rovers support gave Allessandro Del Piero a warm welcome when he replaced Diego before good naturedly taunting the veteran star about his limited prospects of ever playing for their team which are, all told, about the same as the Dublin club’s hopes of turning this tie around next Thursday.
SHAMROCK ROVERS:Mannus; Sives, Price, Murray, Stevens; Rice (Dennehy, 66 mins); Chambers (Kavanagh, 78 mins), Turner, Bayly (Bradley, 93 mins), Stewart; Twigg.
JUVENTUS:Storari; Motta, Bonucci, Chiellini, De Cegline; Pepe, Sissoko, Marchisio (Ekdal, 89 mins), Lanzafame (Martinez, 52 mins); Amauri, Diego (Del Piero, 82 mins).
Referee:D Fernandez Borbalan (Spain).
Att:5,800
