Details
| Date | Time | League | Season |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27 September 2022 | 6:15 pm | U21 International | 2022/23 |
Match Report
Ireland suffer penalty heartbreak in European U21 playoff in Israel
The Republic of Ireland U21s were denied their first ever qualification to the European Championships after they fell to a 3-1 defeat on penalties to Israel in the second-leg of a Euros play-off in Tel Aviv this evening.
Conor Coventry netted Ireland's first spot-kick but the following penalties from Tyreik Wright, Evan Ferguson and Dawson Devoy were all saved by Israel's Daniel Peretz.
Though Gil Cohen missed the home side's second kick, Eden Karzev, Peretz and Osher Davida all struck home to see their side progress to next summer's tournament.
The penalties came after Ireland withstood waves of Israeli pressure over the course of 90 minutes to see the game progress to extra-time, which saw the sides remain tied at 0-0 after its conclusion.
Israel started brightly at Bloomfield Stadium and passed the ball well to maintain control most of play from then on.
With Evan Ferguson benched due to injury, Aaron Connolly was Ireland's lone striker and the Galwegian struggled to get on the end of speculative balls from his teammates.
Though the Israelis enjoyed the lion's share of possession they struggled to break down a resolute Irish XI and didn't create a real scoring opportunity until the 32nd minute.
Among the players to drop down from Israel's senior squad for this important tie, Celtic's Liel Abada put Idan Gorno in on goal and Brian Maher made an excellent save to deny the scorer of Israel's goal on Friday.
Moments later Maher easily saved an attempt by Ido Shahar and then Oscar Gloukh pulled a shot from inside the Irish area just left of the post.
Abada was put through on goal after sloppy play by Conor Coventry gave Israel the ball back just before half-time, but Maher again saved though the attacker was then called offside, which may have been controversial had he scored.
Play opened up drastically after half-time as both sides went in search of the lead.
Ireland came very close to scoring minutes after the restart when Connolly curled an attempt inches wide of the right post after running at the Israel backline.
The home team had a golden chance when Eiran Cashen mistakenly chested an Israeli cross down to Abada outside the area and Maher was forced to parry away the winger's snapshot. The ball fell to the onrushing Gorno at point-blank range but the striker somehow missed the target.
Chances continued to come for Israel but they failed to hit the target on several occasions.
Ireland came into it more as the clock ran down though Connolly struggled to make the best of passes he received on the edge of the area.
Finn Azaz bolstered the Irish attack after he was subbed on and, combining with Will Smallbone, the Aston Villa forward forced a good save from Peretz with five minutes remaining.
Determined defending from Lee O'Connor saw two late Israeli breaks halted in the final minutes for the game to go to extra-time.
Tired legs on both sides saw the extra 30 minutes play out without much drama though Israel rallied late on to keep Jim Crawford's side on their toes.
Then came penalties where Ireland lacked the quality to beat the excellent Peretz, who single-handedly put an end Ireland's major tournament hopes.
Timeline
| 8' | 1. Brian Maher | |
| 17. Ido Shahar | 43' | |
| 59' | Joe Hodge Dawson Devoy | |
| 59' | Ross Tierney Finn Azaz | |
| Doron Leidner Mohammad Kanaan | 61' | |
| Ido Shahar Hisham Layous | 61' | |
| Idan Gorno Osher Davida | 70' | |
| Roi Herman Zohar Zasno | 73' | |
| 90' | Eiran Cashin Sean Roughan | |
| 93' | 28. Dawson Devoy | |
| Oscar Gloukh Yoav Hofmeister | 97' | |
| Liel Abada Adir Levi | 97' | |
| 105' | William Smallbone Ollie O'Neill | |
| 105' | Aaron Connolly Evan Ferguson | |
| 111' | 20. Evan Ferguson | |
| 6. Eden Karzev | 120' |
Past Meetings
 
(Play Off 1st Leg)
1 - 1U21 International
Tallaght Stadium Ireland v Israel |
0 - 2UEFA Women's EURO Qualification
Israel v Republic of Ireland |
2 - 0UEFA Women's EURO Qualification
Tallaght Stadium Republic of Ireland v Israel |
3 - 0Women's World Cup Qualification
Carlisle Grounds Republic of Ireland v Israel |
0 - 3Women's World Cup Qualification
Ness Ziona Stadium Israel v Republic of Ireland |
Ground
| Bloomfield Stadium |
|---|
| Bloomfield Stadium, HaTkuma, Tel Aviv, Northern Jaffa, Jaffa, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Tel Aviv Subdistrict, Tel Aviv District, 6811156, Israel |
Osher Davida strikes to see Israel progress to the Euros. 3-1
Dawson Devoy is denied. 2-1
Cohen hits the post. 2-1 to Israel still
Evan Ferguson's penalty is saved by Peretz. 2-1
Peretz beats Maher. 2-1
Tyreik Wright's penalty is saved by Peretz. 1-1
Maher gets to Karzev's penalty but it bounces under him into goal. 1-1
Coventry goes right to beat Peretz!
The game goes to penalties
Karzev booked
O'Neill's cross finds no one in the box for Ireland
Israel piling on pressure
Lee O'Connor clears as Israel threaten own the right
Ferguson booked
Both teams looking tired now
Evan Ferguson and Ollie O'Neill are introduced for Connolly and Smallbone for the second-half of ET
Half-Time of extra-time - Still scoreless
Israel attack comes to nothing and Ireland have a goal kick
Layous goes over after combining well with gloukh
Ireland do well to deny Israel space in the area
Extra-Time begins in Tel Aviv
Full-Time, the game will go to extra-time
Devoy booked as Israel win a free-kick in Irish territory
4 minutes additional tim to be played
Azaz and Smallbone combine on the right, Azaz forces a save from Perez
Abada hits the sidenet
Tyreik Wright on for Lyons
Smallbone plays into Lyons in the box and he tries to bend it into the top-right, but misses the target
Israel corner after Davida's shot defended
Abada over the bar for Israel
Connolly's header on Devoy's ball goes right and wide
Zohar Zasha replaces Herman
Stoppage in play as Herman receives attention
Connolly is dispossessed in the Israeli area and the home side attack
Gorno is replaced by Osher Davida of Standard Liege
Kanaan and Layous replace Shahar and Leidner for Israel
Hodge and Tierney are replaced by Finn Azaz and Dawson Devoy
Gorno misses badly in front of goal after Maher parries away Abada's intial attempt
Coventry's volley is defended and Abada goes over at the other end!
Game has opened up in this half, with attacks from both sides
Gorno goes wide
Maher saves on Gloukh from outside the area
Connolly comes so close as he curls a shot around his defender and it goes just wide of the far post
Back underway with Andy Lyons winning Ireland\'s first corner
0-0 at Half-Time, Ireland withstand Israeli pressure
Two minutes added on
Abada called offside after an Irish mistake at the back, Maher saves regardless
Perez rises to catch the Irish delivery
Shahar booked for holding back Tierney's break
Karzev tries form long range and is just off target
Gloukh pulls his shot just left of the Irish post as the Israelis build the pressure
Lieidner fails to control cohen\'s excellent ball over the Irish defence
Shahar's shot is easily grasped by Maher
Maher makes a good save after Abada puts Gorno through on goal
Israel having most of the ball but can't break Ireland down
Play back underway
Physios treating Maher
Abada cuts in and shoots over!
Aaron Connolly has been left to chase balls up front on his own, with none falling his way as of yet
Smallbone picks out Hodge and the Wolves midfielder hits over from 20 yards out
Shahar shoots over the crossbar under pressure
Ireland defend Israel's free into the box
Brian Maher booked for handling outside his area
Joe Hodge has done well to disrupt the Israelis in midfield so far
Israel putting Ireland under pressure early on
The home side get things under way!
Large crowd in attendance at the Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv as kick-off fast approaches
Both sides appearing to make the switch to a back four tonight after playing three centre-backs in the first-leg
Tyriek Wright and Evan Ferguson drop out of Ireland's XI and Andy Lyons and Ross Tierney come in
Celtic's Liel Abada returns from Israel's senior side to start for the U21s tonight!
Changes from last Friday for both sides
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Live updates here after kick-off at 6.15pm
Welcome to our coverage of Ireland's vital second-leg playoff for a spot at next season's U21 European Championships!