It was always going to be an uphill task for Heimir Hallgrímsson's Irish side to get a result against a wounded England in their first game back after defeat in the Euro 2024 final.
In a rocking Aviva Stadium, Ireland started reasonably well and held their own in a frantic end-to-end beginning to the match. The first chance was presented to England's no.9 Harry Kane as he had a golden opportunity to open the scoring from an inch-perfect Trent Alexander-Arnold cross in the 6th minute.
It was to be a warning to the Irish defence, as five minutes later England got through again following another trademark long ball from the Liverpool defender, this time it was Anthony Gordon on the end of the pass and after his shot was brilliantly saved by Caoimhín Kelleher it was eventually laid back to the onrushing Declan Rice who emphatically passed it to the top corner. Rice scoring against Ireland in an England shirt, stuff of nightmares for many.
England began to dominate proceedings from then and after a long spell of possession, a couple of one twos involving Rice, Grealish and Bukayo Saka, the ball ended up at the feet of the Manchester City midfielder and he coolly slotted into the far corner.
25 minutes gone, 2-0 and utter domination from the English.
For the final 20 minutes of the half, it was the 3,000 English fans making the most noise as the raucous Aviva crowd fell flat after proceedings on the field left little to shout about for the home crowd.
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Overall their were 10 substitutes brought on in the second half that disrupted the flow in what was at times a very enjoyable watch.
There was very little to report in an uneventful second half that petered out with the home crowd decreasing as time passed.
The emergence of Leicester City's Kasey McAteer in a green shirt is a positive in an all-round disappointing day for the boys in green.
🗣Two words that spring to mind are passive and submissive
🗣When you play five at the back your under so much pressure if the opposition are so dominant on the ball your going to be pushed back
Initial thoughts in the studio after Irelands 0-2 defeat to England pic.twitter.com/X22eg7xLhI— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) September 7, 2024
Summing up the performance, Damien Delaney was critical of the Irish tactics especially in the first half as England coasted to a two goal lead. Speaking on Virgin Media after the match, the former Irish international said:
Throughout our history when we play against top tier nations, we are always very very solid, frustrate the opposition, keep them on the periphery, that's what Heimir Hallgrímsson Iceland team did to England and I didn't see any of that (tonight)
Two words that spring to mind are passive and submissive.
The Icelandic manager has come in for some criticism after his assistant John O'Shea handled media duties on Wednesday that would have normally been done by the head coach. It wasn't until Friday afternoon when Hallgrímsson addressed the media for the first time in the lead up to Saturday evening's match.
Delaney was also unsure about how hands-on Hallgrímsson was with his players during his first week working with the team:
If your hired by the FAI, I want you in, I want you front and centre.
Chin-up, chest out, going into the media saying I'm the boss.
From us on the outside looking in, I would've expected a little bit more from a manager stamping his authority on it but we don't know what went on behind the scenes.
Plenty to ponder for Heimir Hallgrimsson but attention turns to a huge match in the Aviva on Tuesday night against Greece where we hope to get off the mark in group B.
