Sloppy Republic of Ireland beaten by clinical Greece

The Republic of Ireland slipped to their second consecutive defeat in the Uefa Nations League with a 2-0 loss to Greece at the Aviva Stadium.

Fotis Ioannidis’ superb effort five minutes after half-time and a late goal from Christos Tzolis gave Greece their second Group B2 win.

Chiedozie Ogbene had a fabulous strike of his own disallowed in the first half as Heimir Hallgrimsson’s wait for his first win in charge of the Republic continues.

It was an improved display from the 2-0 defeat against England on Saturday, but Hallgrimsson’s side again failed to show the “confidence” and “decisiveness” at the back which their manager spoke of pre-match.

That, combined with their lack of a clinical edge, condemned the hosts to a fourth competitive home defeat in a row.

Ogbene disallowed goal highlight of drab first half

Hallgrimsson made three changes to the side beaten by England, one of which was enforced.

Seamus Coleman, who limped off against Lee Carsley’s Three Lions, was replaced by Andrew Omobamidele, with Jason Knight and Alan Browne brought in for Adam Idah and Matt Doherty.

It was a tentative start to the game from the Republic, with a rather flat atmosphere accompanying the opening stages in a half empty Aviva.

The first chance arrived on 11 minutes as Konstantinos Koulierakis connected with Tasos Chatzigiovanis‘ looping corner, but his near-post header landed on the roof of the net.

After a sustained period of possession the Republic managed to fashion their first sight on goal with Will Smallbone slipping in Knight on the right-hand side of the area.

He squared the ball to Browne and his low strike was blocked before it could trouble Odysseas Vlachodimos.

Caoimhin Kelleher was called into action for the first time on 26 minutes, diving low to turn Tasos Bakasetas‘ curling free-kick around the post.

The Republic improved as the half wore on and Chiedozie Ogbene thought he had opened the scoring five minutes before the break.

He chested down a searching pass from Jayson Molumby and fired a powerful strike into the top corner before the flag went up for offside.

That effort raised spirits in the stands and on the pitch, with Browne guilty of squandering another good opportunity on the stroke of half-time.

Slack Republic defending punished by Greece

Ogbene played a neat interchange of passes with Smallbone before laying the ball off to Browne on the edge of the area.

He attempted to guide the ball into the far corner but leaning back his effort curled over the crossbar.

Greece had arrived full of confidence after a 3-0 win over Finland in boss Ivan Jovanovic’s opening game in charge, and they made up for their underwhelming first period by taking the lead five minutes after the break.

Bakasetas zipped the ball into Ioannidis, who had time and space on the edge of the area to pick his spot and find the far corner with Kelleher rooted to the line.

That forced the Republic to press further forward in the search of an equaliser as Ogbene delivered a teasing cross which was met by a tame header from Knight that drifted wide.

Evan Ferguson and Kasey McAteer were introduced off the bench to try to spark the hosts into life, while another substitute, Callum Robinson, almost got the equaliser on 84 minutes with his deflected strike falling agonisingly wide.

And Greece hit the Republic with a sucker punch on 87 minutes as Tzolis broke free from Matt Doherty before twisting past Nathan Collins and firing confidently into the bottom corner.

Up next in October for the Republic is a difficult away double-header against Finland and Greece where they will hope to get some much-needed points on the board.