Daryl Murphy’s late header earned the Republic of Ireland a fortunate 2-2 draw against a youthful Serbia side at the Marakana in Belgrade.
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Czech coach Karel Jarolim, who took over from Pavel Vrba after Euro 2016 at which the Czechs bowed out following the group phase, said he was upset with the loss of points.
The Waterford man has had to wait a long time for his first worldwide goal – and has let himself down with his finishing at times – but his firm headed equaliser showed why Rafa Benitez rates the 33-year-old highly enough to part with £4 million, and his harrying of Rajkovic could have resulted in a late victor. We’ve played Azerbaijan in the past and that won’t be an easy game home and away for any team.
Asked if it gave him hope for the future, the manager said: “Yes it does because Jeff Hendrick – never mind Daryl, but Jeff Hendrick will take great confidence from that as well”.
Goodison new boy Williams, 32, steered Wales to a comfortable 4-0 victory over Moldova as Chris Coleman’s side enjoyed a triumphant homecoming in Cardiff after reaching the semi-finals of Euro 2016 in France.
For the home side, the loss of Nemanja Matic and Aleksandar Kolarov is a significant blow, but new Serbia manager Slavoljub Muslin still has a number of talented players to call upon.
“Maybe we got off the hook a bit when they had chances; we maybe should have defended a little better on those occasions”.
“Expecting to control a match for 90 minutes away from home against Serbia?”. But in those [heavy] conditions here, we’re off the mark. Delighted in the circumstances.
The hosts went ahead not long after as Walters was deemed to have tripped Kostic in the corner of the box with the referee pointing to the spot.
The Irish were hugely fortunate not to go 3-1 down minutes later as Randolph made a mess of catching a shot and the ball fell to substitute Andrija Pavlovic, but with just the ‘keeper to beat and only yards out he hit the crossbar. “In fact, we’ve shaken hands on a deal some time ago”.
O’Neill fully expects Serbia to win more important games in Belgrade and push for qualification to the 2018 World Cup finals in Russian Federation: “I think if the crowd decide to get behind the team and support them in droves – which I’ve seen before here – then I think it will be hard for the other teams”. The pitch amazingly became very, very boggy rather quickly but we knew they were going to come into the game in the second half and did so.
“We’ve got our own things to be concerned about”.
“I think this group is going to be tight”.
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In the 21st minute, Ireland goalkeeper Darren Randolph flapped at a free-kick, and captain Seamus Coleman was forced to clear the ball off the Irish line. Coleman denied the Serbs a victor by making a last-ditch clearance off the line.
