Stade Josy Barthel

Luxembourg v Northern Ireland

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Luxembourg v Bulgaria

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Luxembourg v Belarus

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Luxembourg v Albania

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Luxembourg v Italy

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Luxembourg v Sweden

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Luxembourg v Republic of Ireland

Trio of second half goals powers Ireland win in Luxembourg

Second half goals from Shane Duffy, Chiedozie Ogbene and Callum Robinson saw the Republic of Ireland finish third in Group A of their World Cup qualifying campaign with a fine 3-0 win away to Luxembourg.

Substitute Jason Knight made a huge impact when he was introduced in the 62nd minute. The Derby County player was fouled in the 67th minute, a free from Josh Cullen met the head of Duffy and he made no mistake. On 75 minutes Ireland doubled their advantage, when Jeff Hendrick’s ball was backheeled by Knight into the path of Ogbene and he found the back of the net with a chip over the body of a Luxembourg defender.

Two minutes from the end of normal time. Knight squared the ball to Robinson and he got Ireland’s third goal of the game. 

Gerson Rodrigues should’ve done better with his effort in the 49th minute but it was easily saved by Gavin Bazunu. On 53 minutes Matt Doherty picked up the ball and took a shot from distance that went just over the bar.

Luxembourg had the ball in the net a minute later, but Danel Sinani’s strike was ruled out due to a foul in the build-up on Duffy.

Manager Stephen Kenny decided to make changes and brought on Knight for Adam Idah and it had the desired effect.

In a first half that Ireland had the better of the chances in, they were unfortunate not to have been awarded a penalty in the 14th minute when Idah was bundled over in the box. Bazunu made a fantastic save in the 23rd minute when he got the deftest of touches to Olivier Thill’s strike to deflect it out for a corner.

Down the other end on 39 minutes Luxembourg netminder Ralph Schon brought off an excellent save to deny Ogbene. One minute before the break a corner from Cullen met the head of John Egan but his effort was superbly saved by Schon as the sides went in level at the break.

The second half took a while to liven up but when Duffy broke the deadlock it settled Ireland down as they went on to grab two more goals.

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Luxembourg v Bosnia & Herzegovina

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Luxembourg v Serbia

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Luxembourg v Republic of Ireland

Ireland 21’s held to draw in Luxembourg

The Republic of Ireland’s U21’s were held to a frustrating draw against Luxembourg in Dudelange today.

It looked like a strike from substitute Colm Whelan twenty minutes from time would ensure Ireland would get what they deserved from this one, but a penalty in the final ten from Dylan Keute meant they came away with only a point.

Although they started this one in tame fashion, Ireland were easily the better side in the first half. Will Ferry in particular was the focal point of nearly every Republic attack. The Crawley Town loanee from Southampton tested Lucas Fox in the Luxembourg goal a fair few times. While none of his efforts were particularly clear-cut chances, he was definitely emerging as the best player on the pitch early on.

Ireland looked like they would be rewarded for their efforts just after the half hour mark. Ferry was bundled over in the box by Emre Erkus and the referee pointed to the spot. Tyreik Wright stepped up to take it and went right, but his effort was saved by Fox. The Salford City loanee from Aston Villa will be disappointed not to add to his goal against Bosnia and Herzegovina last Friday. Ireland would go into the break with nothing to show for their efforts.

A different Luxembourg team came out for the second half. For the first quarter of an hour they attacked Ireland, but to no avail.

After the hour mark the Ireland of the first half seemed to come back into the action. Conor Coventry in particular tried a fine long ranger, but Fox was behind it all the way.

Then, the reward came 20 minutes from time. Substitute Whelan was fed the ball by Bohs man Dawson Devoy. Whelan took the ball onto his left and buried it, finding the bottom left corner.

This was a first international goal for the UCD man, who is in fine form in the First Division this season. It was also pleasing to see the goal come from link up play between two League of Ireland players.

Ireland must have thought they had the points, but Luxembourg had other ideas. A cross into the area from the hosts two minutes after the goal found Alessio Curci, whose effort went wide. This was an absolute sitter, but it wasn’t all she wrote.

Ten minutes from time Luxembourg got their equaliser. Oisin McEntee was called for a foul on Curci and Keute stepped up to the spot. He converted and this ensured Luxembourg got their first point of the campaign. Jim Crawford’s side will look to rebound at the next break, when they face Luxembourg again and then Montenegro.

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