Battle: Glenn Whelan and Alessandro Diamanti vie for possession

But as much as Ireland must have been satisfied with their much-improved defensive work, offensively they were simply not a threat and lost possession too easily.

Glenn Whelan in particular was guilty of hopelessly loose passes in promising positions, ruining one move when Pirlo was feigning injury, to Robbie Keane’s annoyance. Aiden McGeady and Andrews both made similar basic errors.

It was an hour before Gianluigi Buffon had a save to make, and that was a standard pick-up in front of him when Andrews shot from 25 yards.

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