Duffy finds the net late on to secure a draw for Ireland against Azerbaijan
Daire Walsh
On the return of supporters to the Aviva Stadium, Shane Duffy grabbed an 87th-minute goal to earn the Republic of Ireland a 1-1 draw with Azerbaijan in a FIFA World Cup qualification Group A encounter this evening.
Following three defeats on the bounce in the campaign to date, Stephen Kenny’s side looked set to once again end up on the wrong side of the result.
Emin Mahmudov found the Irish net in first-half stoppage-time and the visitors appeared primed to hold out for their first win of the term in advance of Duffy’s late intervention.
While the search for a first competitive win under Tallaght man Kenny continues, this will offer his charges some solace ahead of their home clash with Serbia on Tuesday.
Having impressed between the sticks in Faro three days ago – saving a penalty from Cristiano Ronaldo before the Portuguese ace rescued his side with a brace of late headers – Firhouse native Gavin Bazunu kept his place between the Irish sticks.
Former Templeogue College student Dara O’Shea was withdrawn through injury during the opening half of the 2-1 defeat to Portugal and was subsequently ruled out of contention for this game.
Bazunu and the Irish defenders were relatively quiet in the early moments of this contest with the hosts largely dominating possession.
Jayson Molumby was one of three players to be drafted into the Irish starting line-up by Kenny and he was inches away from breaking the deadlock on 28 minutes.
Following neat approach work by Aaron Connolly, the midfielder eyed up the target and fired agonisingly past the left-hand post.
Despite their early promise, however, Ireland struggled to make attacking inroads as the interval approached.
It looked set to be a scoreless first half, until Azerbaijan struck gold in spectacular fashion.
Mahmudov collected possession 25 yards from goal and unleashed an unstoppable strike that Bazunu was helpless to stop.
In a bid to turn the game around, Kenny introduced Daryl Horgan (his former player at Dundalk) on the resumption.
Conor Hourihane and Callum Robinson were also introduced just past the hour mark, in place of Molumby and Troy Parrott respectively.
Just before the latter duo entered the fray, centre-forward Adam Idah had headed wide off an enticing Horgan delivery.
While there was no lack of encouragement from the crowd, Ireland continued to lack the killer instinct in front of goal – something that has been their achilles’ heel for some time now.
Nonetheless, they persevered with their challenge and finally reined in their opponents with three minutes of normal time remaining.
Duffy has come to the rescue of his country on more than one occasion and he powered home a header from a Josh Cullen cross to secure a share of the spoils for Ireland.