MOTD- England 1-1 Ireland

By on May 29, 2013

Ireland have earned a draw in their first match against England in over 15 years, with Giovanni Trapattoni’s side weathering England’s pressure to seal a solid result at Wembley.  England’s game plan seemed to be to get the ball out wide to Theo Walcott, and after both sides felt each other out in the opening minutes of the match, The Three Lions began to dominate, resulting in Walcott seeing much of the ball.  But Ireland amazingly took the lead only 13 minutes into the match, when Seamus Coleman played a long cross into the England box from the right.  Shane Long majestically rose up to meet the ball around the penalty stop, and England goalkeeper Joe Hart could only helplessly flap at the West Brom forward’s glancing header as it flew into the far corner of the net.

After a pretty measured start the match burst into life, and England put numbers forward as they pressured Ireland, who were doing a good job of closing Roy Hodgson’s side down.  Although Ireland did their best to shut England down, it only seemed a matter of when, not if the Three Lions would grab an equalizer, and Frank Lampard gave England their much desired goal in the twenty-third minute.  Daniel Sturridge ran towards the Ireland box from the left, and after waiting and waiting for a suitable pass to open up, the winger slipped the ball in to the run of Lampard, who coolly poked it into the corner of the net from three yards out.  Both sides threatened to take the lead, and after Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has his screaming shot from a tight angle on the left caught by Ireland goalkeeper David Forde, before Walcott had his low cross from the right hacked away by Coleman just as it was about to reach Rooney.  Still, the score remained level, and after three minutes of added time the first half ended 1-1.

England controlled the opening stages of the second half, with the Three Lions attempting to pass their way through Ireland.  Hodgson’s side came close to scoring in the forty-seventh minute when Wayne Rooney’s lovely chip found Walcott, who delicately volleyed a cross across goal from the right side of the box, but Coleman smartly cleared just over the crossbar right from under the feet of Oxlade-Chamberlain.  Lampard then saw his effort fly wide of the post from twenty-five yards, but England could not take the lead with the few chances they had left, and after two minutes of added time the match ended all square.
Man of the Match: Ashley Cole

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.