Dundalk 0 Legia Warsaw 2
By Liam Mackey
Dundalk, as we know, have already won 3-0 against quality European opposition this season.
And now, if they are to keep their disintegrating Champions League dream alive, they will have to do the same again but in even more testing circumstances – away from home against Legia Warsaw next Tuesday, and without their inspirational skipper Stephen O’Donnell to boot.
That’s the punishing price the Irish champions are forced to pay after a debatable penalty decision and, even more cruelly, a second goal with the lack kick of the game gave Legia Warsaw the 2-0 win in Dublin which, barring a miracle of miracles, means Dundalk will not now become the first Irish club to contest the group stages of the Champions League.
Taking on the nine internationals of Legia last night, Stephen Kenny’s selection saw Patrick McEleney – whose trickery had such an impact when he came on as a sub in the win over BATE – on from the start, with Ronan Finn consigned to the bench. Although recovered from his broken wrist, Brian Gartland was also named as a sub, the central defensive partnership of Andy Boyle and Paddy Barrett who helped keep BATE scoreless in that famous 3-0 win, remaining intact.
To comply with UEFA’s own Champions League sponsorship commitments, any sign that the game was taking place in the Aviva Stadium was literally covered up, the venue undergoing a temporary name change to the Dublin Arena. But the backdrop was still all too familiar to those in the crowd who had frequented Lansdowne Road over the years, the glorious summer weather of earlier in the week giving way to relentlessly damp and dreary conditions.
Still, the hardcore Legia and Dundalk fans at opposite ends of the ground did their best to illuminate the gloom, literally so in the case of the Polish supporters whose bright red flares lit up the Havelock Square end as the teams lined up to the sound of the Champions League anthem.
The smoke was still billowing across the pitch when Dundalk had the first chance of the game, Patrick McEleney rising high but heading just over from John Mountney’s cross at the end of a lovely, flowing move, the kind of football the faithful have come to expect from the League of Ireland champions.
Both sides had some problems with the ball skidding off the slick surface but Dundalk were certainly showing the most promise in the early exchanges, dominating possession and, on the big occasion, playing with a composure which must have been hugely encouraging for their fans. Legia, by contrast, were struggling to get any kind foothold in the game, their frustration at the home side’s early control showing in a succession of fouls.
But, unfortunately for Dundalk, it was a foul by captain Stephen O’Donnell – when his late tackle brought down Vadis Odjida – which saw German referee Deniz Aytekin reach for his first yellow card of the night, a sanction which means the influential Lilywhites skipper will miss the second leg.
A full 22 minutes had elapsed before ‘keeper Gary Rogers was finally called into action as winger Steeven Langil, mimicking an earlier Daryl Horgan effort at the other end, sent in an over-hit cross which, as it threatened to drop under the crossbar, had to be clawed away to safety. And, with their confidence rising, Michal Kucharcyzck was next to go close for Legia with a dipping shot which flew a couple of yards wide of Rogers’ far post.
With the game beginning to open up, the 37th minute saw Dundalk’s two magic men, McEleney and Horgan, inventively combine to create an opening in the Legia box, with only a last gasp stretch of centre-half Igor Lewczuk’s leg denying Horgan the point-blank shot which might have sent the Lilywhites in ahead at the break. As it was, with the game still scoreless, the League of Ireland champions fully deserved the appreciative applause which accompanied them to the dressing room at half-time.
Heartbreak at the end for Dundalk as the game finishes 2-0 to Legia! #ChampionsLeague pic.twitter.com/w3XtTT013s
— Inpho Photography (@Inphosports) August 17, 2016
The approval was even louder as Dundalk began the second period on the front foot, a surging run through the middle by Chris Shields setting up Horgan for a whipped shot which Legia ‘keeper Arkadiusz Malarz had to be grateful came straight at him.
And then in the 54th minute: calamity for Dundalk. In what was probably their first clear sight of goal in the whole game, Hungarian international Nemanja Nikolic got in behind the Dundalk defence and, when the dive of Rogers forced him too wide to shoot himself, he played the ball back for Langil to have a strike at goal. Andy Boyle threw himself in the way and, although his back was turned and his arm close to his side when the ball hit it, the referee appeared to have no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Nikolic stepped up to do the necessary and, almost without warning – and in unarguably cruel circumstances – Dundalk found that they had conceded the dreaded away goal.
Committed to pushing forward in numbers in search of the equaliser, Dundalk also began to look increasingly vulnerable in the face of a succession of swift Legia attacks as the visitors, now playing with their tails up, went in search of the second goal which would surely kill off the tie.
Dundalk then had their own penalty shout, albeit one made more in hope than expectation, as Ciaran Kilduff went down under a challenge in the box before, in the dying moments, the substiture fired a snapshot over the top as the Lilywhites gave their all in trying to unlock a canny Legia rearguard.
But, in the final minute of time added on, in the very last act of the game, Legia rubbed salt in Dundalk’s wounds by grabbing the second goal which surely puts this tie beyond the Irish champions, substitute Aleksandar Prijoiv nimbly clipping the ball over Rogers to ensure the visitors take a two-goal lead back with them to Warsaw and suggest that Dundalk can now start thinking about life in the Europa League.
Dundalk: Rogers, Gannon, Barrett, Boyle, Massey, O’Donnell, Shields (Benson 76), Mountney (Finn 63), McEleney, Horgan, McMillan (Kilduff 89)
Legia Warsaw: Malarz, Broz, Pazdan, Lewczuk, Hlousek, Odjidja (Kopczynski 75), Jodlowiec, Moulin, Langil (Alexandrov 88, Kucharczyk, Nikolic (Prijovic 82)
Referee: Deniz Aytekin (Germany)
