Ireland held by Slovakia

Republic of Ireland slipped to second as they were held to a goalless draw by Slovakia at the Aviva Stadium.

Keane misses golden chance in Aviva Stadium stalemate

Republic of Ireland slipped to second in Group B as they were held to a goalless draw by Slovakia in a frustrating evening at the Aviva Stadium. Robbie Keane missed a gilt-edged header midway through the second half for the home side and, deep into stoppage-time, Richard Dunne also missed a header when unmarked at the far post. Giovanni Trapattoni will now have to travel to Russia on Tuesday with a weakened team after Sean St Ledger was given a caution for a professional foul late on. Ireland recorded their sixth clean sheet in succession for the first time in their history but that record was tempered by the fact that they themselves failed to score. Ireland head for Moscow knowing victory is essential if they are to pip the Russians, who had beaten Macedonia 1-0 earlier in the evening, to automatic qualification. Ten years and a day since their famous World Cup qualifying win over Holland, Trapattoni's side only really threatened to take the game by the scruff of the neck in a frenetic conclusion. Up until that point, the Slovakians had handled them with little difficulty and might have claimed all three points had it not been for keeper Shay Given. A record sixth successive clean sheet was little consolation to Trapattoni's men as a must-win game yielded only a point, and their dejection was clear as they trudged off the pitch at the Aviva Stadium with boos ringing in their ears. Slovakia left Dublin by far the happier, and Ireland could yet find themselves in third place in the group on Tuesday night if Vladimir Weiss' side better their result when they face Armenia in Zilina.

Confidence

Ireland headed into the game brimming with confidence on the back of a five-game unbeaten run and looking to lay the foundation for victory with another shut-out. They reached half-time with 50% of that mission completed, but having shown little sign of the form which accounted for Macedonia in Skopje and then Italy in Liege in June. Having drawn 1-1 in Slovakia, they knew Weiss' men would be no push-over, and just how much of a threat the visitors represented quickly became clear. Ireland were disjointed to say the least, and as Slovakia grew in confidence, it was they who looked the more likely to open the scoring. Given was grateful to see Vladimir Weiss jnr, the manager's son, fire straight at him with 19 minutes gone, and the Aston Villa man had to get down well to his left nine minutes later to claw Filip Holosko's header out of the bottom corner. Trapattoni's suspicion that Slovakian playmaker Marek Hamsik would start despite being rated at only 50-50 with a knee injury on the eve of the game proved correct. He linked repeatedly with Juraj Kucka behind him and Miroslav Stoch and Holosko ahead of him, and as full-backs Peter Pekarik and Marek Cech exploited the space behind opposite numbers Stephen Ward and John O'Shea, Ireland found themselves stretched. But for all that, it was they who created the best opening of the half, although they had to wait until the 38th minute to do so. Damien Duff came off the right wing to play a one-two with Keith Andrews and continued his run into the box to receive the return pass. Duff's left-foot shot clipped Martin Skrtel on its way to goal, but the deflection failed to wrong-foot keeper Jan Mucha, who managed to beat it away.

Returned

Ireland returned after the break no doubt having been told in no uncertain terms that they would have to be much better in the second half, and they resumed in determined fashion. Both sides had penalty appeals correctly waved away by Portuguese referee Pedro Proenca inside the opening four minutes after Weiss went down under Aiden McGeady's challenge and then Glenn Whelan collided with Pekarik at the other end. Duff fired over the angle of bar and post with 58 minutes gone, but his side would have been behind three minutes later had St Ledger not blocked Hamsik's goal-bound shot with his chest after Holosko had got in behind Dunne and teed up his captain. Trapattoni introduced Simon Cox as a 64th-minute replacement for Kevin Doyle, but with Weiss terrorising the home defence, Given was seeing far more of the ball than Mucha. However, the chance of which Keane would have dreamt last night finally arrived with 16 minutes remaining when Duff curled in the perfect cross from the right wing. Keane met the ball with a firm header just five yards out, but somehow powered his effort wide with Mucha hopelessly exposed. Cox might have spared Keane's blushes six minutes from time when he ran on to the former Tottenham frontman's lay-off, but he dragged his shot wide of the post.

Republic of Ireland	Team Statistics	Slovakia
0	Goals	0
0	1st Half Goals	0
2	Shots on Target	2
6	Shots off Target	5
3	Blocked Shots	8
3	Corners	4
18	Fouls	17
2	Offsides	1
2	Yellow Cards	2
0	Red Cards	0
76.2	Passing Success	75.1
10	Tackles	10
60	Tackles Success	70
50.2	Possession	49.8
50.6	Territorial Advantage	49.4