Parrott’s pair and Ronaldo’s red keep Ireland’s World Cup dreams alive
By Conall Diggin
Ireland have kept their World Cup dreams alive thanks to a brace from Troy Parrott seeing them top Portugal 2-0.
A historic night at the Aviva now sees Ireland only a point behind Hungary in the race for world cup qualification.
The opening of the match largely favoured the Portuguese, with them controlling much of the possession and territory in the opening 15 minutes
Cristiano Ronaldo had three shots early on with only one ending up on target and hardly troubling Caoimhin Kelleher in the Irish net.
Ireland saw some success on the counter in the early stages with a few long balls from Kelleher that were latched onto by Finn Azaz and Troy Parrot, but both failed to find Chideozie Ogbene in the Portuguese box.
Ireland’s opening goal came off the back of some dogged pressing from Parrot, putting Portuguese keeper Diogo Costa under pressure and forcing a corner. Josh Cullen’s corner found Celtic’s Liam Scales at the back post, who headed back across goal where Parrott would head home to see Ireland take a shock lead only seventeen minutes in.
Half chances were exchanged for the next twenty minutes, with Portugal largely forced into long-range efforts due to Ireland’s low block.
In the 37th minute, Ogbene almost doubled Ireland’s lead, cutting inside from the left, beating the keeper, but hitting the post.
Only two minutes later Portugal should have pulled one back, with Vitinha forcing a great save from Kelleher, where the ball stayed inside the Irish box for a long time before a wayward Diogo Dalot shot would release a collective sigh of relief from all in the Aviva.
Many in green would’ve been happy going into the half one up, but not Parrot, who repeated his earlier feat by latching onto a ball from Dara O’Shea, cutting in from the left and scuffing one past a flat-footed Costa.
Heading into the half 2-0 and creating the better of the chances in the opening period, Ireland looked set to pull off a huge upset. While Portugal made two changes at half time they were still unable to create anything against the Irish defence.
No one was seemingly more frustrated than star man Ronaldo, who lashed out and struck O’Shea with an elbow. Initially only getting a yellow card and visibly mocking the Irish defender, it was the boys in green who would have the last laugh, as after a VAR check, Ronaldo saw red and gave Irish fans even more hope for the closing thirty minutes.
Very few chances came for the remainder of the match, with Ireland firmly parked within their own third. Career-best performances in a green jersey from O’Shea, Nathan Collins, and Jake O’Brien helped the boys in green to fight off the constant Portuguese pressure.
Kelleher was called into action late on, forcing a lovely strike from Ramos around the post, as Ireland continued to hold off the team ranked fifth in the world.
Substitute Mikey Johnston almost put Ireland three to the good in the 90th minute but struggled to get a good shot away, seeing his effort blocked.
As Portugal continued to press late into the seven minutes of added time, Ruben Neves, who scored the winner last time around, fired again from the edge of the box, but once again Kelleher was on hand to make the stop.
As the final whistle blew, players and fans alike celebrated, all now knowing that a win against Hungary on Sunday will see them another step closer to their first World Cup since 2002.
