Republic of Ireland’s Jonathan Walters celebrates scoring
An impressive Republic of Ireland defeated Uruguay 3-1 at the Aviva Stadium in a friendly match this evening.
The result prevented the Boys in Green losing three games in a row and will have given the team a much-needed confidence boost ahead of their World Cup qualifying fixture with Austria next Sunday.
Manager Martin O’Neill made eight changes to the starting 11 that lost 3-1 to Mexico on Friday and granted a full debut to defender Kevin Long at centre-back.
Meanwhile, Uruguay made six alterations from their last game and went into the match without Luis Suarez, Diego Godin and Cristian Rodriguez.
First Half
Oscar Tabarez’s men got off to a terrible start when their main striker Edinson Cavani was substituted inside 10 minutes for Christian Stuani due to injury. It was a huge blow for the South American side with the Paris Saint-Germain striker in top form this season, scoring 49 goals in 50 games.
Ireland dominated possession in the early stages and had the first real chance in the 12th minute when Robbie Brady curled a shot from the right corner of the penalty area which was diverted round the post by keeper Esteban Conde.
From the resulting corner, Shane Duffy was inches away from making it 1-0 when a Brady cross into the back post was just too long for the defender.
Uruguay looked like they were slowly getting into the game and Urreta broke into the Ireland box and played the ball across to Diego Laxalt who blazed his shot over the crossbar when really he should have done better.
However, Ireland broke the deadlock soon after in the 27th minute through Jonathan Walters’ wonderful strike that made him 10th top scorer in Ireland’s history.
A great move with crisp passing and nice interchange between Glenn Whelan and Walters resulted in the striker curling the ball over the top of Conde and into the far left corner from outside the area.
This seemed to spark Uruguay into life and they came close to equalising in the 34th minute when a Martin Caceres header cannoned off the crossbar from Urreta’s corner.
La Celeste didn’t have to wait too long for their goal though and made it 1-1 when a Darren Randolph mistake was punished by Jose Gimenez.
Carlos Sanchez’s free kick was whipped into the area and the keeper misjudged the flight of the ball resulting in a free header for Gimenez into the back of the net.
Ireland should have been quickly back ahead just before half-time when a Brady cross was diverted against the crossbar from Walters when he was only two yards out.
Second Half
O’Neill’s men regained their lead in the 51st minute when Cyrus Christie ‘s great run into the box was neatly curled into the far left corner for only his second international goal. However, it did seem the right-back was actually an attempted cross at second glance.
Uruguay had a couple of decent chances to equalise, most notably when Gimenez’s header was superbly kept out with a low one-handed save from substitute keeper Kieren Westwood.
The game was wrapped up though in the 77th minute when Daryl Murphy released James McClean just inside the opposition’s half and the striker skipped away from Gimenez’s challenge to smash he ball into the far right corner from just inside the box.
It is now four defeats in a row for Uruguay and the result would have hurt Tabarez who will be keen to make amends when they face Italy at the Allianz Riviera on Wednesday night.
Republic of Ireland: Randolph 5 (Westwood 7), Christie 8, Long 7, Duffy 7 (Pearce 6), Ward 7, Hendrick 7 (McClean 7), Whelan 7 (Hoolahan 6), Arter 8, Hayes 7 (McGeady), Walters 8 (Murphy 6), Brady 7.
Unused subs: O’Shea, Keogh, O’Dowda,Boyle, Hourihane, Doyle, O’Kane, McGoldrick, Egan, Horgan, Browne.
Uruguay: Conde 6, Pereira 6 (Ricca 6), Coates 5, Caceres 6, Gimenez 7, Arvelo Rios 6(Gonzalez 6), Sanchez 6 (Nandez 6), Vecino 6, Laxalt 6 (A.Silva 6), Urreta 6, Cavani 6 (Stuani 6).
Unused subs: Rolan, G.Silva, Corujo, Guruceaga.
Referee: Craig Thomson
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