Greece dents Ireland’s Euro qualifying hopes

ATHENS: The Republic of Ireland’s hopes of qualifying for next year’s European Championship were dealt a major blow with defeat by Greece in Athens.

The host dominated the early stages and opened the scoring through Anastasios Bakasetas’ penalty.

Nathan Collins gave the Republic hope when he equalised from close range before the half-hour mark.

But Giorgos Masouras’ 49th-minute strike means the Irish are without a point after two games in Group B. The Republic’s misery was compounded when Matt Doherty was shown a straight red card deep in injury time after clashing with Kostas Tsimikas and Giorgos Tzavellas as Irish frustrations spilled over following a disappointing performance.

While it still has 18 points to play for, the Republic is already six adrift of France and Greece - and must visit the French and face the Netherlands home and away. It is familiar territory for the Republic under boss Stephen Kenny, having also lost the first two games of its 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign - a position it failed to recover from. Even though it is expected to beat Gibraltar at home on Monday to get off the mark, defeat in Athens represents a setback to Kenny’s hopes of qualifying for a first tournament as boss.

Having lost its opener at home to France, the Republic needed a positive result to kick-start its qualifying campaign, but failed to convince against a superior Greek unit. Kenny’s players - who were regularly targeted by laser pens from the stands - looked uncomfortable throughout against Gus Poyet’s side, which is already guaranteed at least a play-off spot after winning its Nations League group last year.

Gavin Bazunu twice came to the visiting side’s rescue during the early exchanges, tipping a Konstantinos Mavropanos header around the post, before beating away a fierce Bakasetas effort. But Bazunu could do nothing to stop Greece from taking a deserved 15th-minute lead from the spot. Callum O’Dowda was penalised for using his arm to stop a George Baldock cross and, following a lengthy video assistant referee review, Greece captain Bakasetas confidently drilled his penalty home.

Thankfully for the Republic, it was soon on the right side of a video check. Collins had been flagged offside after he converted Evan Ferguson’s flick-on from close range, only for the VAR to overturn the decision and breathe new life into its challenge after 27 minutes.

But Collins’ equaliser failed to inject purpose into a Republic side which was regularly outfought and outrun by its opponent.

Result: Greece 2 (Bakasetas 15-pen, Masouras 49) bt Republic of Ireland 1 (Collins 27)