We had to wait a long time for Harry Arter's Ireland debut but it was worth it. Down James McCarthy and Glenn Whelan (who went off after 22 minutes) Arter marshalled a midfield with Jeff Hendrick and David Meyler to a momentous away win in Vienna that puts Ireland in with a serious shout in Group D World Cup Qualifying.
Arter lasted the full 90 minutes, playing with typical flair and guile in a chippy game. When most Ireland fans feared McClean's goal had come to early, Arter helped guide Ireland to a calm but dominant second-half performance that saw us close out a game we typically draw. One of his own highlights was definitely earning a free and then cajoling a yellow card out of Austrian captain Julian Baumlingartner deep in the second half. Arter went to ground after a softish approach from Baumlingartner and stayed on the ground. Baumgartlinger was not exactly impressed and kicked the ball into Arter's ribs before standing over the supine Bournemouth player, shouting invectives in his direction. The ref then produced a yellow card to make matters worse for the Austrian captain. As Arter gathered himself, the camera appeared to capture him having a sly smile about the whole thing.
Judge for yourself.
Cheeky pic.twitter.com/BsVpvM2Qfm
— Andy Lee (@AndyLeeBoxing) November 12, 2016
It was a moment that would have made David Luiz smile.
Or Sergio Busquets.
Arter was delighted with his Ireland debut after the game and, according to Newstalk's Nathan Murphy, he credited Martin O'Neill's team talk at half time with Ireland's inspired second half performance.
"I think the manager's team talk at half-time, he wasn't too happy with us and rightly so. He got a reaction which is what he's paid to do. He has to get a reaction out of the players and thankfully he got that".
