{"id":10577,"date":"2025-09-09T19:39:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T19:39:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/10577\/"},"modified":"2025-09-09T19:39:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T19:39:10","slug":"kelleher-and-ferguson-not-enough-to-prop-up-disappointing-ireland-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/10577\/","title":{"rendered":"Kelleher and Ferguson not enough to prop up disappointing Ireland \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Caoimh\u00edn Kelleher (Brentford)<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall b-it-article-body__text--left\">Moved his feet very early for the penalty but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/caoimhin-kelleher\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/caoimhin-kelleher\/\">Kelleher<\/a> couldn\u2019t have done much to prevent the home side\u2019s second goal. Made four really good saves thereafter to deny even greater embarrassment as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/republic-of-ireland-mnt\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/republic-of-ireland-mnt\/\">Ireland<\/a> were cut open continuously.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall b-it-article-body__text--left\">Rating: 7<\/p>\n<p>Jake O\u2019Brien (Everton)<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Whipped in a nice ball from the right just after the half-hour mark but was caught badly in behind for the home side\u2019s second goal. Ireland\u2019s defence looked in disarray for much of the second half.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall b-it-article-body__text--left\">Rating: 3<\/p>\n<p>Nathan Collins (Brentford)<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall b-it-article-body__text--left\">Produced a brave block in the 35th minute to deny a goal but was caught wrong-footed and nipped at Zelarayan, who made the most of the tackle to win a match-turning penalty. Thereafter, he was part of an incredibly shaky, open Ireland defence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall b-it-article-body__text--left\">Rating: 3<\/p>\n<p>Dara O\u2019Shea (Ipswich Town)<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Got caught for one of the best scoring chances of the first half, slipping on the endline after trying to chase down the Armenian captain, Barseghyan. Thankfully Armenia didn\u2019t take advantage on that occasion. Was guilty of some bad passing out of defence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall b-it-article-body__text--left\">Rating: 3<\/p>\n<p>Ryan Manning (Southampton)<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Unable to have the same impact he managed on Saturday. Slotting in on the left in Yerevan, he got caught between his defensive and offensive responsibilities often but did force a good save from Chancharevich during the second half.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall b-it-article-body__text--left\">Rating: 4<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"Ireland's Chiedozie Ogbene in action against Armenia's Erik Piloyan. Photograph: Ryan Byrne\/Inpho\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/2BYE45VZEJ4P5UCR353IATWVJI.jpg\"   width=\"800\" height=\"491\"\/>Ireland&#8217;s Chiedozie Ogbene in action against Armenia&#8217;s Erik Piloyan. Photograph: Ryan Byrne\/Inpho Chiedozie Ogbene (Sheffield United)<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Brought real energy and threat when introduced off the bench against Hungary but his first touch was rusty here. Chased down loose ball and tried to create chances out wide but was hauled ashore at the break.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall b-it-article-body__text--left\">Rating: 4<\/p>\n<p>Jason Knight (Bristol City)<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall b-it-article-body__text--left\">Ireland really struggled for a foothold in the middle of the field and Knight was anonymous for way too long. He conceded a needless free in a dangerous position in the 80th minute.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall b-it-article-body__text--left\">Rating: 4<\/p>\n<p>Josh Cullen (Burnley)<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The wait continues for Cullen to become Ireland\u2019s midfield general because the Burnley player was unable to influence the game. Ireland showed little creativity in the middle and were overrun there by the home side. Cullen was taken off during the second half.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall b-it-article-body__text--left\">Rating: 4<\/p>\n<p>Finn Azaz (Southampton)<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Tried to set a positive tempo for Ireland by getting a shot off after only 22 seconds but like most of the Irish team he faded out of the game. Armenia looked stronger as the match went on.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall b-it-article-body__text--left\">Rating: 4<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"Ireland's Finn Azaz and Armenia's Georgii Arutiunian. Photograph: Ryan Byrne\/Inpho\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/CIYD36HYQ7IRJJSW6TGEJWWYSU.jpg\"   width=\"800\" height=\"474\"\/>Ireland&#8217;s Finn Azaz and Armenia&#8217;s Georgii Arutiunian. Photograph: Ryan Byrne\/Inpho Jack Taylor (Ipswich Town)<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall b-it-article-body__text--left\">Might have had a penalty in the 31st minute but opted to stay on his feet after Piloyan threw himself across the Ireland player. Gave away a lazy free in the 15th minute and was out of the game for long periods. Substituted at half-time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall b-it-article-body__text--left\">Rating: 4<\/p>\n<p>Evan Ferguson (AS Roma)<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The classiest Irish player on the pitch, he curled home his goal with real calmness. Ferguson almost opened the scoring with a beautifully weighted lob over Chancharevich early on, only for the ball to be headed off the goal line. Overall he did as much as he could in dire circumstances.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall b-it-article-body__text--left\">Rating: 7<\/p>\n<p>Substitutions<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Half-time substitutes Kasey McAteer and Adam Idah both played key roles in Evan Ferguson\u2019s goal but the bench couldn\u2019t spark another Irish comeback. Armenia outplayed Ireland in the second half and the visitors looked all out of confidence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall b-it-article-body__text--left\">Rating: 3<\/p>\n<p>Manager \u2013 Heimir Hallgr\u00edmsson<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Where to now? Probably not the World Cup, anyhow. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall b-it-article-body__text--left\">For the ninth time in 10 competitive matches, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/heimir-hallgrimsson\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/heimir-hallgrimsson\/\">Heimir Hallgr\u00edmsson<\/a> side fell behind. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Had to rip up his prematch plans early once again but personnel and tactical changes made Ireland appear even more vulnerable. They were a jaded, disorganised and defeated side long before the end.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall b-it-article-body__text--left\">Rating: 2<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Caoimh\u00edn Kelleher (Brentford) Moved his feet very early for the penalty but Kelleher couldn\u2019t have done much to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10578,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4700,61,60,43,1842,4018],"class_list":["post-10577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-heimir-hallgrimsson","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-republic-of-ireland-mnt","tag-world-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10577\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}