Keane header rescues Irish

A late header from Robbie Keane helped maintain the Republic of Ireland's push for the World Cup.

Late header grabs all three points in vital win for Republic

A late header from Robbie Keane helped maintain the Republic of Ireland's push for World Cup qualification after a 2-1 victory over Cyprus. The win means Giovanni Trapattoni's men stay second in Group Eight, just one point behind Italy, who have a game in hand. With fellow group frontrunners Bulgaria and Italy both winning on Saturday, the pressure was on for the Republic to match their results. The Irish took an early lead through Kevin Doyle, who drilled home a loose ball in a scrappy penalty area with just five minutes on the clock. The Republic's inability to defend a lead was evident once more, however, as they allowed Cyprus back into the game as Marios Elia netted when unmarked on the edge of the area. As the second half wore on the away side looked to be running out of ideas, but the introduction of Caleb Folan breathed new life into Trapattoni's side. However, it was the veteran combination of Damien Duff and Robbie Keane which provided the late winner as Keane beat Cyprus keeper Sofronis Avgousti to head in a Duff cross on 83 minutes.

Early Goal

Ireland could hardly have got off to a better start as they forced Cyprus on to the back foot, just at they had done at Croke Park in October last year. Full-back Andreas Avraam had little option but to concede a fifth-minute corner as Doyle closed on Duff's cross, and the visitors took full advantage. John O'Shea met Stephen Hunt's cross beyond the far post and headed it back into the mix and, after Keith Andrews' shot had been blocked, Doyle turned and smashed the loose ball past Avgousti. The lead might have lasted just two minutes, however, had it not been for Shay Given's athleticism, the Manchester City goalkeeper arching his back to claw away Giannakis Okkas' goal-bound header, earning the good fortune which came his way when Chrysostomos Michail completely missed as the ball was fed back across. It was danger man Efstathios Aloneftis who had provided Okkas with his chance, and while he was kept quiet for much of the first half by O'Shea and Hunt, when he did get himself into the game down the left, things happened for Cyprus. The equaliser duly arrived from that flank with half an hour gone when, after Dunne had dispossessed Okkas inside the penalty area and Sean St Ledger had blocked Avraam's shot, Elia made no mistake to lash the ball into the far corner. Ireland's response was swift and concerted, and they might have regained the lead had Andrews' 36th minute effort from distance been a foot closer to Avgousti's right post, or had Kevin Kilbane been able to keep his header a fraction lower seconds later. Konstantinos Charalambides headed over at the other end five minutes before the break, but Trapattoni's men left the pitch at half-time knowing the game was very much there for them to win.

Second Half

Just as they had done in the first half, Ireland started strongly in the second, and might have been back in front twice within the opening five minutes. First Hunt headed a Duff cross into the side-netting from an acute angle, and then Whelan forced Avgousti into a top-class save with 50 minutes gone. Keane's knock-down from Doyle's cross fell perfectly for the Stoke midfielder, who struck it on the half-volley towards the top corner, only for the goalkeeper to just palm it clear. There was an anxious moment for the visitors, however, with 61 minutes gone when Okkas looked to have got marginally the better of Dunne as the pair raced into the box shoulder to shoulder and the striker ended up on the floor. But Austrian referee Thomas Einwaller was not impressed, much to the annoyance of home fans inside the Neo GSP Stadium. Trapattoni replaced Hunt with Aiden McGeady with 23 minutes remaining, although the winger's first contribution was to concede a corner from which Charalambides should have done better. Cyprus substitute Nektarios Alexandrou carved his way into the Republic's penalty area within a minute of his arrival and might have caused serious damage had O'Shea, who looped a header just over seconds later at the other end, not intervened. But it was left to Keane to do what he has done so often in the past, beating Avgousti to Duff's 83rd minute cross to glance a header home and send the travelling fans into raptures.

Cyprus	Team Statistics	Republic of Ireland
1	Goals	2
1	1st Half Goals	1
3	Shots on Target	3
5	Shots off Target	7
1	Blocked Shots	1
2	Corners	7
15	Fouls	28
3	Offsides	1
2	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0
73.3	Passing Success	61.1
20	Tackles	21
80	Tackles Success	81
51.2	Possession	48.8
42.1	Territorial Advantage	57.9