Republic of Ireland’s Nations League misery extended with home defeat to Greece

Fotis Ioannidis and Christos Tzolis extended the Republic of Ireland’s Nations League misery as Greece emerged from their trip to Dublin with a 2-0 victory.

Ioannidis’ accomplished 50th-minute finish was matched by Tzolis three minutes from time to leave Ireland pointless in League B2 after two fixtures under new head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson.

It proved to be a familiar story for the Republic, who have now won just two of the 18 games they have played in the competition, and their only victories – two of them – in their last 10 competitive outings have come against minnows Gibraltar.

It might have been different had Chiedozie Ogbene not strayed offside before producing a superb first-half finish, but the toxic blend of defensive frailty and attacking bluntness which characterised the dying embers of the Stephen Kenny era remain issues for Hallgrimsson as he turns his attention to October’s double-header in Finland and Greece.

For the visitors, a third-successive win over Ireland – and a second at the Aviva Stadium – since June last year, coupled with their 3-0 opening-day victory against Finland, represents a very pleasant start for new boss Ivan Jovanovic.

Hallgrimsson was forced to reshuffle at the back with skipper Seamus Coleman injured during Saturday’s 2-0 home defeat by England, but also dispensed with Matt Doherty and Adam Idah as he drafted in Alan Browne, Andrew Omobamidele and Jason Knight.

After starting with a back three against England, the Icelander, who had considered changing shape at half-time, opted for a back four with Omobamidele lining up at right-back and he found himself under early pressure from full-back Kostas Tsimikas, who delivered two dangerous crosses.

The Greeks were dominating possession, but playing largely in front of Ireland, although goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher was relieved to see defender Konstantinos Koulierakis’ 11th-minute header from a Tasos Chatzigiovanis corner drop just over his crossbar.

When they did have the ball, the home side were struggling to break through the Greece press and central defender Dara O’Shea seemed to be seeing more of the ball than anyone else in green as they found themselves confined largely to their own half of the field.

However, they mustered their first attempt on goal after Knight and Will Smallbone linked nicely to feed Browne, whose 22nd-minute shot looped into goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos’ arms via a helpful deflection.

Kelleher had to palm away a Bakasetas free-kick four minutes later after the midfielder had been tripped by Smallbone 25 yards out, but it was Vlachodimos who was sent back-pedalling when Sammie Szmodics chanced his arm from an improbable distance and angle 14 minutes before the break.

Ogbene thought he had given Ireland a 41st-minute lead when he controlled Jayson Molumby’s driven crossfield pass on his chest before thumping a stunning shot across Vlachodimos and inside the far post, but an offside flag correctly denied him a picture-book goal.

Ogbene almost made amends as the whistle approached, exchanging passes with Smallbone before picking out Browne, who could not keep his effort down.

Ireland’s momentum was broken within five minutes of the restart when Bakasetas was allowed to pick out Ioannidis 22 yards out and, with the home defence sitting off, he took a touch before curling a left-footed shot past the helpless Kelleher.

Knight headed wide from an Ogbene cross as the Republic responded, although they were at times disjointed in their approach and Hallgrimsson decided the time had come to throw on striker Evan Ferguson.

Smallbone had a chance to salvage something from the game 10 minutes from time, only to miscontrol Robbie Brady’s pull-back and substitute Callum Robinson saw his late attempt deflected just wide.

But Tzolis made sure at the death, side-stepping the recovering Nathan Collins after being played in behind the Irish defence and firing emphatically past Kelleher.