Ireland salvage draw with 87th minute equaliser against Azerbaijan

Photo: Stephen Gormley (Red Eye Photo Agency)

Ireland continue their unimpressive run of 14 successive competitive matches without a win after a 1-1 draw against Azerbaijan.

The draw gives them their first point in their World Cup qualifying group, where they sit joint bottom with Azerbaijan and five points behind third-place Luxembourg.

Stephen Kenny’s men started the match brightly with off-target shots from Aaron Connolly, Adam Idah and Seamus Coleman in the first 15 minutes.

Azerbaijan, however, were much more clinical in front of goal. Emin Mahmudov was given too much space as he smashed the ball into the top corner of the Irish net to make it 1-0 in the visitors’ favour just before half-time.

The visitors were happy to sit back in the second half and let Ireland try to break them down. The hosts failed to do so for most of the second period but they got their chance with seven minutes to go.

Before Ireland’s chance, in the 83rd minute, Azerbaijan broke at pace and looked destined to score. If it wasn’t for the left boot of Irish goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu, it would have most definitely been game set and match.

A couple of minutes later, Ireland got the leveller through Shane Duffy as he connected with a deep cross and saved his side from certain embarrassment.

Callum Robinson had a chance right at the death but it was smartly saved and the points were shared between the bottom two teams in the group.

Up next for Ireland is another home match against group leaders Serbia. With the first round of fixtures now complete and Kenny’s men on only one point compared to Serbia’s and Portugal’s 10 points, the World Cup dream for the Irish is more or less over.

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