New faces, same old stuff.
The Republic of Ireland fell to a disappointing 1-0 friendly defeat to Turkey in Antalya. Mehmet Topal’s second-half strike was enough to edge a drab contest for the hosts as Martin O’Neill’s new look side largely failed to shine.
It was far from a disaster but another unadventurous performance has certainly crushed much of the pre-match optimism, with some of the fresh faces struggling to assert themselves.
Here are our player ratings.
Colin Doyle – 6
The Bradford keeper didn’t have much to do in the way of shot-stopping in the first-half but was unable to stop Topal’s effort.
Seamus Coleman – 6
Great to see him back but it’s perhaps understandable that he couldn’t get involved too much in an attacking sense with Ireland failing to string together too many meaningful passing moves. The Everton full-back was taken off just after the hour mark to be replaced by Matt Doherty.
Shane Duffy – 5
The Brighton defender has been one of the better players in recent outings for Ireland but failed to stop Topal for Turkey’s opener. The centre-back also missed a decent chance to equalise, heading wide after beating his man in the air.
Declan Rice – 7.5
Making his international debut, the 19-year-old looked composed on the ball throughout the first half. A friendly is not enough from which to measure his progress but he certainly did not look out of depth among some of the more seasoned campaigners out there. Bodes well for the future, having played a part of the game in defence before moving into midfield. Unsurprisingly, he was named RTE’s choice for man of the match. No complaints here.
The #rtesoccer man of the match is Declan Rice.
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) March 23, 2018
Kevin Long – 5
The Burnley defender had his hands full with Cenk Tosun
James McClean – 4.5
Deployed at left wing-back, the West Brom man looked to be struggling early on, being dispossessed a few times while playing a couple of sloppy passes. He also lost Topal in the build-up to the goal, running beyond as the Turkey midfielder checked back and fired home. Also failed to get the ball out of his feet when presented with a decent shooting opportunity.
Bad touch from James McClean as the Irish threaten https://t.co/uqbG5tdeGh #TURIRL pic.twitter.com/OzjA9IecuY
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) March 23, 2018
Jeff Hendrick – 6
Offered a glimpse of his creative craft when he sliced the Turkish defence open with a single pass to find Hogan. Apart from that, it was a gritty performance from the Burnley midfielder. Tried to get Ireland going forward at times but struggled to find players with which he could link up before eventually coming off for Alan Judge.
Conor Hourihane – 5.5
There were a couple of instances when the midfielder dropped back deep to help defend but, as a result, his attacking threat was somewhat nullified.
Alan Browne – 5
Great to see the Cork native involved but the Preston midfielder was wholly ineffective before being replaced by David Meyler.
Sean Maguire – 5
The 23-year-old has been in fine form at Preston recently but failed to replicate that here. Had a decent shout for a penalty but, apart from that, he struggled to assert himself and looked isolated in the final third as Ireland struggled to get up the pitch.
Scott Hogan – 5.5
Making his international debut, the Aston Villa forward spurned a glorious chance to score the opener after 20 minutes. Beating the offside trap to latch onto Hendrick’s defence-splitting pass, Hogan’s heavy touch rounded the keeper but closed the angle, from which he could only blast the side-netting.
That was Ireland’s best chance and the brightest moment from one of our attacking players, but it’s a shame the clinical edge was lacking.
Substitutes
David Meyler – 6
Replaced Alan Browne and produced one decent one-two with Hendrick but also got himself booked.
Shane Long – 6
Full of running but didn’t have the service to make any sort of impact.
Matt Doherty – 6
Didn’t see much of the ball after replacing Coleman.
Daryl Horgan – 6
Looked bright after coming on but should have slotted Long in when he picked up the ball just outside the area.
Ciaran Clark – N/A
Alan Judge – N/A
