A 0-0 draw with the Czech Republic in Prague earned O’Neill’s side a point in their first World Cup qualifier, yet an underwhelming performance from a group of players who reached the last 16 of Euro 2016 only two months earlier will be a cause for concern.
Advertisement
O’Neill once again stressed his commitment to the Republic, even though his new contract has not yet been signed, nearly three months after an agreement being announced.
O’Neill told Sky Sports 2: “You would have taken a point before the game started”.
“There will be no hiccups with my contract, I should imagine we’ve got it sorted”.
“I thought first half we were very good at times, we defended well, we counter-attacked well, but. we should have done better with the final pass”, said O’Neill.
And now it’s time for Martin O’Neill’s men to get back to business as they begin on the long road to Russian Federation 2018.
Filip Kostic deservedly drew Serbia level just after the hour and then won a penalty, which Dusan Tadic duly converted and looked as though it would be the victor.
Ireland had a goal disallowed for offside but got their reward when the bearded Murphy rose above his markers to score his first global goal.
“You would’ve taken a point before the game started away from home against a rejuvenated Serbia”. The 24-year-old is probably Ireland’s best technical player, able to find space when under pressure, but his game has lacked goals at both club and worldwide level.
“At the same time there’s a lot of “what if” if we had have been at our best”.
James McClean then headed over the crossbar before Rajkovic parried a Long attempt out for a corner, but the ensuing dead ball was whipped in by Brady and clinically headed in by the unmarked Murphy to send Ireland home relieved to have salvaged a point from a game that looked to be slipping away from them.
“We made some substitutions and thankfully, it paid dividends”.
On the idea of midfielder-cum-wing-back Brady stepping up to the plate, O’Neill said: “Yes, I think he can”.
“Daryl Murphy came on and scored a great, great goal”.
Suddenly the Irish were wobbling and Tadic had a great chance to give his side the lead but drilled his shot straight at Randolph. He’s off the mark now and it was a fantastic header.
Martin O’Neill’s side took an early lead at the all-but-deserted Red Star Stadium, with just 10,000 of the 53,000 seats filled as some home supporters boycotted the game and many more were put off by the sleeting rain in the Serbian capital.
“No it doesn’t feel like a win in that sense”.
Advertisement
“I didn’t think we would get much from the referee”.
