The Republic of Ireland slipped to their second consecutive defeat in the Uefa Nations League after a 2-0 loss against Greece at the Aviva Stadium.
Fotis Ioannidis’s superb effort five minutes after half-time and a late goal from Christos Tzolis gave Greece their second Group B2 win.
Chiedozie Ogbene had a fabulous strike of his own disallowed in the first half as Heimer Hallgrimsson’s wait for his first win in charge continues.
It was an improved display from the Republic from the 2-0 defeat against England on Saturday, but they again failed to show the “confidence” and “decisiveness” at the back which their manager spoke of pre-match.
That, combined with their lack of a clinical edge, condemned the hosts to a fourth competitive home defeat in a row.
Ogbene disallowed goal highlight of drab first half
Hallgrimsson made three changes to the side beaten by England, one of which was enforced.
Seamus Coleman, who limped off against Lee Carsley’s side was replaced by Andrew Omobamidele with Jason Knight and Alan Browne brought in for Adam Idah and Matt Doherty.
It was a tentative start to the game from the Republic, with a rather flat atmosphere accompanying the opening stages in a half empty Aviva.
The first chance arrived on 11 minutes as Konstantinos Koulierakis connected with Tasos Chatzigiovanis‘ looping corner, but his near-post header landed on the roof of the net.
After a sustained period of possession the Republic managed to fashion their first sight on goal with Will Smallbone slipping in Knight on the right-hand side of the area.
He squared the ball to Browne and his low strike was blocked before it could trouble Odysseas Vlachodimos.
Caoimhin Kelleher was called into action for the first time on 26 minutes, diving low to turn Tasos Bakasetas‘ curling free-kick around the post.
The Republic improved as the half wore on and Chiedozie Ogbene thought he had opened the scoring five minutes before the break.
He chested down a searching pass from Jayson Molyumby and fired a powerful strike into the top far corner before the flag went up for offside.
That effort raised spirits in the stands and on the pitch with Browne guilty of squandering another good opportunity on the stroke of half-time.
Ogbene played a neat interchange of passes with Smallbone before laying the ball off to Browne on the edge of the area.
He attempted to guide the ball into the far corner, but leaning back, his effort curled over the crossbar.
Sloppy Republic defending punished by Greece
Greece had arrived full of confidence off the back of a 3-0 win over Finland in Ivan Jovanovic’s opening game and they made up for their underwhelming first period by taking the lead five minutes after the break.
Bakasetas zipped the ball into Ioannidis, who with time and space on the edge of the area, picked his spot and found the far corner with Kelleher rooted to the spot.
That forced the Republic to press further forward in the search of an equaliser as Ogbene delivered a teasing cross which was met by a tame header from Knight that drifted wide.
Evan Ferguson and Kasey McAteer was introduced off the bench to try and spark the Republic into life, but it fellow substitute Callum Robinson who almost got the equaliser on 84 minutes, with his deflected strike falling agonisingly wide.
And Greece hit the Republic with a sucker punch on 87 minutes as Christos Tzolis broke free from Matt Doherty before twisting past Nathan Collins and firing confidently into the bottom corner.
Up next in October is the difficult away double-header against Finland and Greece where the Republic will hope to get some much-needed points on the board.