Greece 2 Republic of Ireland 1
Bakasetas pen 15, Masouras 49; Collins 29
The Republic of Ireland finished in disarray. Matt Doherty sent off with a straight red card as the team looked wildly detached from the systems and tactics their manager Stephen Kenny has drilled into them for three years.
Any patience for Kenny’s unclear master plan is now in tatters as qualification for Euro 2024 in Germany hangs by a thread.
Already.
The opening 45 minutes felt like that famous shootout scene at the end of Michael Mann’s classic film Heat. Organised chaos. Ireland knew precisely what Greece would throw at them from corners. They worked on repelling all the angled inswingers last week in Turkey.
Gavin Bazunu was ready for skidding long-rangers from Greek skipper Tasos Bakasetas. Everyone knew what everyone else could do. So something had to give when both teams went gung-ho from the off.
And it did, twice before half-time, as Nathan Collins scrubbed Bakasetas’ 15th-minute penalty with a well worked goal off a preplanned corner.
But Greece manager Gus Poyet had done his research on Kenny. The Uruguayan had read about Kenny’s desire to turn Ireland into a ball playing side, which invited Poyet’s high pressing approach to go into overdrive as Vangelis Pavlidis harassed the Irish back three at every turn.
Nobody had a second to pause on the ball and nobody could stop moving off it.
The madness was unfolding on and off the pitch. Greek stewarding left a lot to be desired on this night as the game was 20 minutes old when the Irish crowd swelled to its 2,600 allocation.
Uefa have plenty to do after the latest planning around the Champions League final in Istanbul, but some pencil pusher will need to examine the CCTV from outside the OPAP Arena to figure out why the visiting supporters were denied easy access to a half-empty stadium.
[ Malachy Clerkin: Ireland chase shadows on dispiriting night in AthensOpens in new window ]
[ Ken Early on Greece vs Ireland: A night to forget, just terribleOpens in new window ]
That’s not all. As soon as the anthems finished, Evan Ferguson’s face was repeatedly targeted by laser beams. Supposedly this happens in Greek football but a hefty fine could follow after the locals shined their lights on referee Harald Lechne when the Austrian booked Petros Mantalos.
The AEK Athens player, on his home patch, would have seen red in another era for raking Collins’ achilles when the Wolves defender made a brilliant interception.
Back to the football, there is plenty to report. From kick-off Ferguson sprayed a sumptuous pass wide right for Doherty to launch an attack.
Cue helter skelter, manic football as Greece forced five early corners and tested the theory that Ireland love to concede goals from long-range shots.
In the first half alone, Bazunu made two sensational interventions and two more equally important saves at his feet. Amidst it all John Egan was a towering figure but the Irish captain could not impact Video Assistant Referee Christian Dingert on 15 minutes as the German VAR official spotted Callum O’Dowda’s forearm blocking George Baldock’s cross
Bakasetas smashed the penalty down the middle as Bazunu dived early to his right.
One-nil and Greece had robbed the Irish bank. Now for a swift escape. Another long and miserable night seemed imminent as the Irish back three could not beat the press. Will Smallbone could not get hold of possession as Ferguson and Adah Idah settled in for the punishing task of chasing impossible balls.
Then something clicked. All those hours on the training fields of Antalya and a natural connection between Smallbone and Doherty began to turn the tide. Pantelis Hatzidiakos went from softening up Idah, seemingly at will, to almost turning a Doherty cut back into his own net.
From the resulting corner Collins finished at the back post despite Kostas Mavropanos trying to tear the Castore shirt clean off him. The equaliser came direct from the Irish coaching hive. As Jayson Molumby and Bakasetas scrapped like wild dogs in the middle, Ferguson spun into space to head Smallbone’s excellent corner across the goalmouth. The linesman flagged Collins for offside but Mr Dingert let it stand on replay.
Kenny replaced Idah at half-time with Mikey Johnston but within eight minutes of the second half more cavalry was needed, namely James McClean and Jason Knight as Greece retook the lead through Giorgos Masouras.
O’Dowda must shoulder the blame for losing the Olympiacos winger, who gathered and finished a clever assist when Bakasetas nutmegged Johnston.
Ireland threw everything at Greece in the last 20 minutes with the clearest chance being a rasping half volley by Collins that Benfica’s Odysseas Vlachodimos denied with a fine save.
The Greeks have been apologising all week for the weather. It had not been hot enough for them, with a prematch thunderstorm sounding like Zeus himself but you could see the suffocating humidity on Irish faces down the stretch.
Replacing a jaded Molumby with Obafemi for the final 10 minutes can only be interpreted as a desperate swing by a manager that has lost the opening two games across three separate campaigns since 2021.
When Doherty’s injury-time shot was gathered by Vlachodimos the reality of this result became unavoidable.
Greece: Vlachodimos (Benfica); Baldock (Sheffield United), Hatzidiakos (AZ Alkmaar), Mavropanos (VfB Stuttgart), Tsimikas (Liverpool); Mantalos (AEK Athens), Kourbelis (Panathinaikos), Bakasetas (Trabzonspor); Masouras (Olympiacos Piraeus), Pavlidis (AZ Alkmaar), Pelkas (Hull City).
Substitutions: Fountas (DC United) for Pelkas, Giakoumakis (Atlanta United) for Pavlidis (both 71), Siopis (Trabsonspor) for Mantalos (90), Tzavellas (AEK) for Bakasetas.
Republic of Ireland: Bazunu (Southampton); Egan (Sheffield United), Collins (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Lenihan (Middlesbrough); Doherty (Unattached), Cullen (Burnley), Molumby (West Bromwich Albion), O’Dowda (Cardiff City); Smallbone (Southampton); Ferguson (Brighton & Hove Albion), Idah (Norwich City).
Substitutions: Johnston (Celtic) for Diah (46), Knight (Derby County) for Smallbone, McClean (Wigan Athletic) for O’Dowda (both 53), Obafemi (Burnley) for Molumby (81), Parrot (Tottenham Hotspur) for Lenihan (89).
Referee: Harald Lechne (Austria).
