John
O'Shea's unfortunate own goal denied the Republic of Ireland revenge
over Scotland as their hopes of Euro 2016 qualification suffered a fresh
blow in Dublin.
The hosts dominated an occasionally tetchy game and took a deserved lead through Jon Walters on 38 minutes.
However, the Stoke star did appear to be in an offside position as he stabbed home from close-range, after David Marshall saved Daryl Murphy’s bullet header from a corner.
Scotland took little time to respond after the break, with Shaun Maloney seeing his curling shot, which was heading wide, going in off O’Shea’s shoulder just two minutes into the second half.
Ireland had the chance to take back their lead minutes
later, but glovesman Marshall produced another crucial save to keep out
the impressive Murphy for a second time; the Ipswich forward played
clean though but seeing his effort flicked wide by the goalkeeper’s
legs.
Martin O'Neill side shrugged off the blow and roared back, with Robbie Keane - who was introduced off the bench late on at the end of a difficult week - going close with a cleverly crafted chance.
But the visitors held out, unconvincingly at times, for the point to go above Germany into second place in Group D.
The world champions, however, should restore their advantage later in the evening against Gibraltar, while leaders Poland showed again their qualifying credentials with a 4-0 win over Georgia.
However, the Stoke star did appear to be in an offside position as he stabbed home from close-range, after David Marshall saved Daryl Murphy’s bullet header from a corner.
Scotland took little time to respond after the break, with Shaun Maloney seeing his curling shot, which was heading wide, going in off O’Shea’s shoulder just two minutes into the second half.
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Martin O'Neill side shrugged off the blow and roared back, with Robbie Keane - who was introduced off the bench late on at the end of a difficult week - going close with a cleverly crafted chance.
But the visitors held out, unconvincingly at times, for the point to go above Germany into second place in Group D.
The world champions, however, should restore their advantage later in the evening against Gibraltar, while leaders Poland showed again their qualifying credentials with a 4-0 win over Georgia.
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