Ireland simply not good enough
The Republic of Ireland managed to hold Belgium scoreless following a composed defensive effort during the opening 45 minutes until another mental switch-off proved costly and allowed Belgium open the scoring and canter to victory, writes Ger McCarthy.
As diligent as Ireland’s efforts were, there can be no escaping the fact Martin O’Neill’s side offered nothing in attack, resorting to lumping hopeful balls towards Shane Long, a tactic the Belgian defence dealt with all too easily.
A deflating day for Irish football and a result that is unlikely to see O’Neill’s side make the last sixteen of the tournament. Belgium played well but Ireland simply weren’t good enough.
The rise and fall of James McCarthy
Much was expected of Everton’s playmaker in the run-up to Euro 2016 but unfortunately James McCarthy has failed to make his mark in France, culminating in being hauled off after an hour against Belgium.
Hot on the heels of an ineffective showing against an ordinary Swedish side, the 25-year- old failed to track Axel Witsel for the Belgians second goal and Martin O’Neill didn’t hesitate, replacing the central midfielder with James McClean following another limp display.
It will be interesting to see if McCarthy retains his place against Italy.
That's two awful decisions/efforts by James McCarthy. Two goals.
— John O'Sullivan (@johngosullivan) June 18, 2016
Lukaku makes his presence felt
The oft-maligned Everton striker has not had the best of times playing up front for Belgium recently and came in for some particularly harsh criticism following an insipid showing against Italy five days previous.
Admirably, Lukaku took the opportunity to remind his critics of his clinical finishing ability with a superb strike on 47 minutes. Questions will be asked as to why Ireland were not awarded a penalty for a wild Toby Alderweireld lunge on Shane Long in the build-up to the opener but there could be no doubting the quality of Lukaku’s strike or the coolness of his second goal to make it 3-0.
Strange refereeing decisions
Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir did little to endear himself to the Republic of Ireland supporters inside the Bordeaux stadium or those on social media who were equally perplexed by many of the match official’s decisions.
Cakir’s booking of Jeff Hendrick when the Derby County midfielder merely kicked a loose ball away after a ball-boy dispatched a second one onto the field underlines this point. The referee’s failure to penalise repeated Belgian fouling of Shane Long was another frustrating trait of a match official unlikely to move up the ranks after such an erratic performance.
A history of poor refereeing decisions against Belgium continues to haunt Irish soccer.
The state of the pitch
The Ireland players are out inspecting the pitch, which looks to have dried out considerably. @RTEsoccer pic.twitter.com/mvzt4n1r96
— Ed Leahy (@Ed_Leahy) June 18, 2016
Martin O’Neill raised concerns about Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux’s playing surface in a press conference earlier in the week after ground staff were called in to carry out additional work on the pitch.
Having already hosted Austria versus Hungary and Wales’s clash with Slovakia, the Bordeaux pitch appeared bumpy in patches and cut up badly as today’s Group E game progressed. Players from both sides lost their footing and heavy rainfall aside, you would expect a Euro 2016 playing surface to be in better shape after only three games played on it.
