Report: Republic of Ireland 1 - 2 Turkey
Credit:
Martin O’Neill fell to a second consecutive defeat as Republic of Ireland boss after a 2-1 defeat to Fatih Terim’s Turkey side in a sporadically attended Aviva Stadium.
The Crescent Stars opened the scoring 17 minutes in, through an Ahmet Ilhan header and doubled their lead fifteen minutes from time via the left boot of sub Tarik Camdal. The boys in green did give Turkey something to think about late on with a Jon Walters strike.
After a much deserved moments silence for the tragedy at Soma preceded the game started and when it did get going, the visitors started the brighter.
Saint Etienne striker Mevlut Erdinc has had a fine Ligue 1 campaign and his early shot tested debutant Rob Elliot. The frontman was again at the heart of things moments later. A defensive mix up by Glenn Whelan allowed him in but his square to Ilhan was scuppered by Damien Delaney.
The opening minutes continued at a frantic pace and on five minutes Ireland may have been awarded a spot kick. Aiden McGeady slipped Shane Long inside Omer Toprak who then felled the Hull frontman. Frenchman Ruddy Buquet waved away the claims to the dismay of Long.
Trabzonspor keeper Onur Kivrak, winning his ninth cap, earned that honour on the quarter hour mark with a fine double save. McGeady whipped the ball into the area for Long who turned it goalward only for the keeper to bat to safety. The follow up came, originally from Wes Hoolahan, but John O’Shea redirected it on target and Kivrak again made a swooping stop.
The opener came on the break 17 minutes in. Gokhan Gonul bombed on from right back into space before being picked out by Nuri Sahin. He proceeded to cross and Ilhan beat Delaney to it, heading into the bottom corner past the despairing Elliot.
A smoky mist ascended to the press box from Turkish flares as the game descended into a lull. Two chances for Long came and went for the boys in green but in truth the game lost it’s spark when Selcuk Inan departed the hallowed turf.
The beginning of the second half was dominated with the breaking news of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian arriving in Cork. This was a pleasant distraction from some dull football. The only remote opening of the first fifteen minutes of the period came from a Hakan Calhanoglu cross which was headed clear with ease by John O’Shea.
With 25 minutes left, Martin O’Neill dipped into the replacements well, with a triple change. It was those three who linked up to create a chance just a minute later. Daryl Murphy got a flick on to Jon Walters who, after a couple of bites at the cherry, found David Meyler. The Corkman, who had been struggling with injury lined up to shoot and got a decent connection but his radar was off as it rippled the wrong side of Kivrak’s net.
With fifteen minutes left on the slowly ticking clock, the away side looked to have wrapped things up with a fine footballing move. Sahin played the ball into the ever elegant feet of Erdinc, he played it back to the Borussia Dortmund midfielder. He distributed the ball then to Oguzhan Ozyakup who found the feet of sub Camdal who lofted the ball over the diving Elliot.
Ireland found a lifeline moments later though. Turkey appeared to fall asleep after their goal and Wes Hoolahan capitalised. He sized up his options before playing a long ball forward to Walters. The Stoke man controlled it well and cut back across Toprak before drilling a high drive past Kivrak into the net.
The affair really began to stretch after Ireland’s ray of light. James McClean, now taking refuge on the right, cut inside Caner Erkin before picking out the head of Murphy. That header though proved ineffective as Kivrak saved neatly.
Republic of Ireland: Rob Elliot; Seamus Coleman, John O’Shea, Damien Delaney (David Meyler 65), Stephen Ward; Marc Wilson, Glenn Whelan (Stephen Quinn 82); Aiden McGeady (Daryl Murphy 65), Wes Hoolahan, James McClean; Shane Long (Jon Walters 65).
Subs not used: David Forde (GK), Alex Pearce. Stephen Kelly, Shane Duffy, Ciaran Clark, Paul Green, Anthony Pilkington, Anthony Stokes, Simon Cox.
Booked:
Turkey: Onur Kivrak; Gokhan Gonul, Hakan Balta, Omer Toprak, Caner Erkin; Selcuk Inan (Oguzhan Ozyakup 20), Nuri Sahin (Ishak Dogan 84); Ahmet Ilhan (Tarik Camdal 70), Bilal Kisa (Ozan Tufan 46), Hakan Calhanoglu (Olcan Adin 63); Mevlut Erdinc (Mustafa Pektemek 82).
Subs not used: Tolga Zengin (GK), Volkan Babacan (GK), Ugur Demirok, Alper Potuk, Olcay Sahan, Adem Buyuk, Aydin Karabulut, Dogan Sahin.
Booked: Gonul (83).
Referee: Ruddy Buquet
Attendance: 22,000 est.
Extratime.ie Man of the match: Nuri Sahin (Turkey)
