Ireland v Portugal: Troy Parrott double topples 10-man Portugal in memorable night in Dublin
World Cup qualifier: Republic of Ireland 2 (Parrott 17, 45) Portugal 0
The Republic of Ireland needed five matches to ignite their World Cup qualification campaign, with Troy Parrott’s two goals shocking Portugal and setting up a showdown with Hungary in Budapest on Sunday afternoon.
Heimir Hallgrímsson’s side must beat the Hungarians at the Puskás Arena to secure a playoff for next summer’s tournament in North America.
Hungary’s 1-0 defeat of Armenia in Yerevan stalls Portugal’s stroll to the World Cup as Group F winners as they need at least a point, albeit at home to Armenia.
Ireland’s red card hex visited the Portuguese just like it transformed the previous home qualifiers, as Cristiano Ronaldo joined Hungary’s Rolland Sallai and Armenia’s Tigran Barseghyan in the land of headless international visitors to the Aviva Stadium.
There was a moment-in-time feel to the occasion as fans streamed off the Dart at Lansdowne Road. Ronaldo, even at 40, remains a sight to behold. His antics after being sent off in the 61st minute displayed the petulant side of his character. He did not want to leave the pitch.
Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo reacts after being shown a red card. Photograph: Liam McBurney/PA
Nathan Collins, so stilted and nervy in recent outings for his country, embraced Ronaldo in the tunnel like an old friend. The Ireland captain was a picture of calm as Amhrán na bhFiann prompted a guttural Lansdowne roar, the loudest in recent memory.
The opening 16 minutes softened the atmosphere inside the Aviva, where the 50,717 in attendance were forced to accept the rules of engagement as Portugal laid siege to the Ireland box.
Caoimhín Kelleher was braced for a busy night. Ronaldo’s early back heel was gathered by the Brentford goalkeeper but even when Ireland put seven passes together, Vitinha won back possession and fired a shot off Josh Cullen’s arm.
It was outside the area. Ronaldo blazed his free-kick into the Dublin night.
Then, from Kelleher’s long punt, Finn Azaz failed to find Chiedozie Ogbene on the Portugal penalty spot.
Chiedozie Ogbene in action against Portugal’s Diogo Dalot. Photograph: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images
That was the plan. Soak up the pressure and break out with Azaz and Ogbene running off Parrott.
Another chance came after 13 minutes when Séamus Coleman intercepted the ball and found Parrott down the right, only for Vitinha to pick off a low cross aimed at Ogbene.
Then it happened. Diogo Costa stalled over a clearance and Parrott almost scored before settling for a corner. Cullen snapped a sweet delivery to the back post where Liam Scales lost Félix and presented Parrott with a tap-in.
Suddenly, Ronaldo was a sideshow as ‘Olé, Olé’ reverberated around the ground.
Azaz kept finding open grass. The Southampton midfielder tested Costa before Ogbene curled his shot around the Porto goalkeeper and off the post.
The place caught fire when Azaz took a yellow card for cutting through Diogo Dalot.
All the while, Collins was chatting away to Swedish referee Glenn Nyberg. All lighthearted stuff as he shadowed Ronaldo, even when play was paused. Match officials can be transfixed by his mere presence. Not Nyberg. Not on Collins’ watch.
Vitinha, perhaps sensing a malaise, strode forward to force a save from Kelleher.
Ireland’s Caoimhín Kelleher and Dara O’Shea. Photograph: Nick Elliott/Inpho
Parrott’s second goal was a striker’s finish. It came from nothing.
Kelleher’s kick out was headed back into Ireland’s half, where Collins chested the ball for Dara O’Shea to clip a pass down the left channel. Parrott won the race, cut inside and tiptoed into the box before punishing Rúben Neves for not closing him down with a low shot into the bottom corner.
It was 2-0 at half-time from five Irish attempts on goal. Portugal had 17.
At half-time, a glance around made it obvious that thousands of the crowd were not old enough to remember Shane Long scoring into the goal that beat Germany in 2015. Or the Euro 2016 adventure.
This feeling was brand new. Early in the second-half, as Portugal monopolised possession and probed relentlessly, the fans sensed a dip and exploded into song. This routinely happened every few minutes until the final whistle.
Lying deep, with nine outfield players constantly behind the ball, Ireland discovered their mojo and some good fortune followed when Scales’s lunging intervention tested Kelleher’s reactions.
Ireland’s Dara O’Shea down injured after being challenged by Cristiano Ronaldo, which resulted in a red card for the Portugal captain. Photograph: Nick Elliott/Inpho
The sideshow became the main event in the 60th minute when Ronaldo clearly elbowed O’Shea off the ball as they jostled in the box. Nyberg saw enough to flash a yellow card before the VAR Pol van Boekel called him over to the pitch side screen. The Swedish official did not need long to turn produce a red.
Ronaldo was disgusted, which is his resting face, accusing O’Shea of overdoing the contact by collapsing to the grass in apparent agony.
In came Goncalo Ramos, but Kelleher pushed his late shot to safety.
Ireland fly to Budapest on Friday evening ahead of Sunday’s win or bust match at the Puskás Aréna.
REP OF IRELAND: Kelleher; Coleman, O’Brien, Collins, O’Shea, Scales (Dunne 86); Ogbene (Johnston 86), Cullen, Taylor (Coventry 68), Azaz (Ebosele 79); Parrott (Idah 68).
PORTUGAL: Costa; Cancelo (Semedo ht), Inácio (Veiga ht), Dias, Dalot; J Neves (Ramos 78), Vitinha, R Neves; Silva (Trincao 63), Ronaldo, Felix (Leao 63).
Referee: G Nyberg (Sweden).
