- Dylan O'Connell
- Thu, Oct 10 2024
Dylan O’Connell reports from Helsinki
The Heimir Hallgrímsson era with the Republic of Ireland is officially up and running following a dramatic come from behind victory over Finland at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki in the UEFA Nations League.
Robbie Brady snatched the three points by guiding in a Festy Ebosele cross in the 88th minute in front of the traveling supporters.
That followed a chaotic night that opened up with Joel Pohjanpalo giving the home side a half-time lead before Liam Scales’ equalised shortly after the restart.
It could have gone either way, with the general feeling inside the ground from the travelling supporters being apprehension after defeats to England and Greece last September.
And it looked like that was going to be the case after Pohjanpalo picked the pocket of Nathan Collins as he tried to put something together with Scales and ran clean through on goal.
The striker rolled the ball passed Caoimhin Kelleher in the 17th minute after pouncing on a moment of hesitation by the Ireland captain.
That silenced the visiting fans after an encouraging start that saw Topi Keskinen brushed off the ball by Collins and Chiedozie Ogbene working closely with Finn Azaz while Evan Ferguson roamed around the penalty area.
All of this happened inside 10 minutes, and it was followed by a close range attempt from Robin Lod getting blocked down by the Irish defence.
Things could have fell apart after Pohjanpalo’s opener but Ireland rallied in the form of a free-kick in a wide position after Ogbene was brought down. Brady took this and Collins managed to break the ball down to Ferguson for a close range shot that ruled-out for offside.
Ireland renewed their quest in the dying seconds of the first half, and the best they could do was a tame Azaz shot which went straight into the hands of Lukas Hradecky.
The game restarted with a Brady corner going to Scales and the defender tried to set up Sammie Szmodics for an attempt at the back post.
Hradecky got in the way of this, but the chances kept going as Ogbene was pulled back on the right wing.
Brady’s free-kick went straight to Scales for the equaliser with 57 minutes on the clock.
The next attempt actually fell to Ferguson, but a tame shot followed and the striker kicked the ball straight into the Finland goalkeeper’s hands.
Hallgrímsson then brought on Adam Idah, Jamie McGrath, Troy Parrott, and Festy Ebosele during a 10 minute spell.
The injection of fresh legs helped stem the flow of a burst of late chances by Finland, with only one causing any fuss.
Kelleher made sure it remained 1-1 and Ireland broke with Ebosele running down the right wing.
The full-back found enough space for a cross to the back post in the 88th minute, and Brady was in the right place at the back post to make it 2-1.
Finland couldn’t create anything during the time added on, and Ireland got their first away win in the Nations League since 2022.
Finland: Lukas Hradecky; Tomas Galvez, Robert Ivanov, Arttu Hoskonen, Glen Kamara, Robin Lod, Rasmus Schüller, Adam Ståhl, Joel Pohjanpalo, Topi Keskinen, Leo Walta.
Subs: Matti Peltola for Schüller (65); Oliver Antman for Keskinen (65), Benjamin Kallman for Pohjanpalo (78), Teemu Pukki for Leo Walta (78).
Subs not used: Jesse Joronen (GK); Viljami Sinisalo (GK), Fredrik Jensen, Anssi Suhonen, Miro Tenho, Urho Nissilä, Nikolai Alho, Jere Uronen.
Republic of Ireland: Caoimhin Kelleher; Liam Scales, Dara O’Shea, Josh Cullen, Sammie Szmodics, Evan Ferguson, Robbie Brady, Finn Azaz, Jason Knight, Chiedozie Ogbene, Nathan Collins.
Subs: Jamie McGrath for Azaz (70); Troy Parrott for Ferguson (70), Festy Ebosele for Ogbene (80), Adam Idah for Szmodics (80).
Subs not used: Max O’Leary (GK); Mark Travers (GK), Mark McGuinness, Andrew Omobamidele, Jayson Molumby, Kasey McAteer, Jack Taylor, Mikey Johnston.
Booked: None.
Referee: Aleksandar Stavrev (North Macedonia)
