Lansdowne sees explosive opening

Ireland 1-1 Albania

The capacity crowd at Lansdowne Road were treated to an explosive opening as they witnessed two goals in as many minutes.

It was the boys in green who scored first after only six minutes. Duff won a free-kick when he was fouled on the left touchline by Elvin Beqiri and he got up to float the ball into the Albania box.

The ball was headed out to Steve Carr, who sent it straight back into the danger zone, and Keane showed a cool head and razor sharp instincts as he controlled and turned in one movement before stroking the ball into the bottom right corner.

As Keane celebrated his 15th goal in 43 international appearances the Albanians protested furiously to referee Tomasz Mikulski that the striker had pushed his way to the opening, but the Polish official waved away their claims and the goal stood.

The joy was short-lived, however, as the visitors capitalised on some sloppy defending down the Irish left and equalised after eight minutes.

John O’Shea had looked very good going forward but he was caught out as Altin Rraklli found space on the Albanian right and picked out Ervin Skela in the box with a low cross. There were no defenders near him as the midfielder had time to pick his spot and fire the ball past Shay Given.

Keane was unlucky not to double his tally after 16 minutes and Ireland felt his efforts at least deserved a penalty.

Duff linked up well with Connolly whose delightful chip fell for Keane on the six-yard line. The 22-year-old’s shot was parried by goalkeeper Foto Strakosha who then used his body to block the Irishman's route to the loose ball.

Connolly - earning his 37th cap despite it being a rare start for him in a competitive match - did well again after 17 minutes as he latched on to a Duff flick and swept the ball wide to Carr on the overlap.

The Tottenham defender found Connolly at the second attempt, but he was crowded out by a wall of red defenders.

Keane was popping up everywhere. It was understandable that he was not at his best when he played in Albania shortly after the death of his father, and he was determined to make amends in this return.

After 24 minutes he cut in from the right and hit a fierce, curling drive which Strakosha pushed away at his far post.

The Albanians were a temperamental bunch, and two minutes later Altin Lala squared up to Carr right under the nose of the referee and was booked for shoving him.

Kevin Kilbane is a player who cannot be faulted for honesty and effort – but his shooting let him down after 28 minutes when he hit a tame, low drive from 25 yards which trickled wide.

Duff’s trickery won another Irish corner on the left after 29 minutes. But Carr’s delivery to the near post was disappointing, and the ball was easily headed clear.