If you’re reading this, we can only hope it’s because you didn’t actually watch Sunday’s match between the Republic of Ireland and England. Neither side looked like they could be bothered to fight for a result, which is understandable in a friendly game at the end of a long season. There were no genuinely great scoring chances, and the game deservedly ended in a 0-0 draw.
Republic of Ireland vs. England: Final score 0-0, totally pointless
Why.
Stu Forster/Getty Images
Ireland looked up for it in the early going, putting England under some pressure in the opening minutes, but the Three Lions eventually settled in and started breaking up play more frequently. The home side looked the more ambitious of the two, but as the game wore on, they had gradually fewer chances to attack.
The introduction of Andros Townsend sparked a bit of life into the game -- something England fans are used to hearing and Tottenham supporters are not -- but even his fast runs and decent crosses into the box couldn’t create anything. Still, he was quite a bit better than Raheem Sterling, who was one of the poorest players on the day and got jeered every time he touched the ball.
After this, Jack Grealish has probably asked his agent to look into other national teams he might be eligible for. Both teams have tough Euro qualifiers coming up -- Ireland takes on Scotland, while England faces Slovenia.
Republic of Ireland: Westwood (Given 61'), Brady, Wilson, O'Shea (McShane 71'), Coleman, Whelan (Arter 63'), McCarthy (McClean 46'), Hendrick, McGeady, McGoldrick (Long 46'), Murphy (Walters 56')
England: Hart, Bertrand, Cahill (Jagielka 74'), Smalling, Jones, Henderson, Wilshere (Barkley 66'), Milner, Sterling (Townsend 66'), Rooney (Vardy 74'), Lallana (Walcott 82')
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