Published Saturday, 14 November 2009
Nicolas Anelka blasted France to within touching distance of World Cup salvation as the Republic of Ireland's brave resistance was finally broken.
The Chelsea striker's 72nd-minute shot was deflected past Shay Given by Sean St Ledger to hand the French a precious lead and valuable away goal to take into Wednesday night's second leg in Paris.
It could have been worse for Giovanni Trapattoni's men with Andre-Pierre Gignac guilty of a glaring miss with 10 minutes remaining, although goalkeeper Hugo Lloris had to make a brave 87th-minute save to deny Glenn Whelan an equaliser.
The game kicked off amid a cacophony on noise at Croke Park as the home fans answered the rallying cry and left the visitors in little doubt as to just how determined Ireland are to dump them out of the competition.
If possible, the volume increased within seconds of the start when Duff left full-back Bacary Sagna in a heap with a rugged challenge to set the tone for his side.
But the warning signs were there from the off as Anelka and Henry wasted little time in making their presence felt.
Anelka produced the game's first shot with nine minutes gone after cutting inside Duff, but it was well blocked by Sean St Ledger.
Ireland goalkeeper Shay Given was beaten two minutes later by Gignac's beautiful lob, but defender Richard Dunne, who had failed to cut out Eric Abidal's long clearance, was mightily relieved to see an offside flag go up.
Ireland went close to the opening goal after 28 minutes when Doyle flicked a Given clearance into the path of skipper Robbie Keane.
The striker controlled instantly, but his shot was well saved by Lloris and by the time Lawrence saw his follow up deflected wide with the goal yawning, German referee Felix Brych has blown for a foul by Doyle in the build-up.
After the break, France returned in determined fashion to pin Ireland deep inside their own half during the opening exchanges of the second half.
Evra, Henry, Anelka and Gourcuff combined in breathtaking style to allow Sagna to fire in a right-foot cross, but it was defender John O'Shea who got the decisive touch.
The goal duly arrived with 18 minutes remaining, and while it looked to have been coming for some time, it did so in cruel circumstances for Trapattoni's men.
Gourcuff's pass found Anelka in space and his shot was deflected by St Ledger past the wrong-footed Given to give France a precious away goal.
It could have been 2-0 within eight minutes after Anelka charged down Given's clearance after he was played in trouble by Kevin Kilbane's back pass, but Gignac blazed wide of the empty net.
But it took a brave 87th-minute save by Lloris to deny Whelan an equaliser after Keane had helped substitute Leon Best's pass into his path.
