Morrison strikes again in dour China clash
Republic of Ireland 1 China 0
Clinton Morrison spared the blushes of boss Brian Kerr with a goal of pure genius in a forgettable friendly tonight.
His exquisite 82nd-minute finish was his fourth goal at international level from his last six appearances and will give his club manager Steve Bruce food for thought.
Yet of all manager Brian Kerr’s 27 matches in charge, surely he could not have felt more embarrassed until Morrison struck with accuracy and precision 21 minutes after coming on for the ineffective Robbie Keane.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Ireland found it hard to raise themselves just three days after their emotionally-draining World Cup qualifying draw against Israel.
If this fixture had been before Saturday’s clash in Tel Aviv it would have provided a beneficial warm-up but it is hard to see just what the benefits were on this occasion.
At least Sheffield United goalkeeper Paddy Kenny, Manchester City defender Richard Dunne, Tottenham winger Andy Reid, Wigan midfielder Graham Kavanagh, Leicester defender Alan Maybury and Sunderland striker Stephen Elliott were all handed a rare start.
They were given the task of preserving Kerr’s unbeaten record of 11 wins and four draws from 15 matches at Lansdowne Road.
That should not have proved difficult against a China team in transition following the appointment earlier this month of a new head coach in Zhu Guanghu.
The Chinese FA opted for a home-grown figure after former Holland star Arie Haan was sacked last year after failing to guide the People’s Republic into the third group phase of qualifying for the World Cup from the Asian Zone.
Guanghu started his reign on Saturday with a 3-0 defeat to Spain in Salamanca but will have been greatly encouraged by this display.
There was no Sun Jihai and Li Tie to call upon, with the Manchester City defender and Everton midfielder both on the long-term injured list with their respective clubs.
It meant Shao Jiayi was the only European-based player in the line up, with the left winger currently plying his trade with 1860 Munich.
The hosts predictably dominated in terms of possession and territory with Kenny having just two touches in the opening half-hour and both of those were in dealing with back passes.
At least in Elliott, Ireland had a young player determined to impress in winning his second cap.
The 21-year-old denied a penalty in the fifth minute when brought down by captain Li Weifeng only for Maltese referee Adrian Casha was unmoved.
Elliott then had a shot blocked by Ji Mingyi, with those two incidents sandwiching a rare right-foot drive from Damien Duff which was inches wide.
A downward header from Kevin Kilbane was later scooped up by goalkeeper Li Leilei.
Although China worked hard they lacked rudimentary skill and when their first attempt on goal in the 35th minute ended with Hu Zhaojun’s slice heading for the corner flag, it brought ripples of laughter from inside Lansdowne Road.
But those supporters were almost silenced when Kenny was forced into a low save down by his right-hand post from a Zhano Junzhe drive from just inside the area.
Elliott at least tried to liven things up on a cold Dublin night with a rasping drive just before the break that only just cleared the crossbar.
If Kerr offered any words of encouragement at the half-time break then they fell on deaf ears as China almost grabbed the opener soon after the interval.
Sun Xiang took a long pass in his stride and after outpacing Maybury, his shot with the outside of his left foot shaved Kenny’s left-hand post.
With the match petering out to a draw among the usual plethora of substitutions the one which ultimately mattered saw Morrison introduced.
There seemed little danger when Maybury played a long ball down the right wing but Morrison raced onto the pass and from the corner of the area lofted a curling shot over the advancing goalkeeper which dipped underneath the crossbar.
The look on his face said it all but the relief on Kerr’s would have been more evident.
Republic of Ireland duo Graham Kavanagh and Clinton Morrison acknowledged the team’s tiredness showed tonight.
The boys in green conceded a late equaliser to Israel in their World Cup qualifier on Saturday and endured a difficult journey home – and Morrison said: “Some of the lads were tired – we’ve done a lot of travelling.”
And Wigan midfielder Kavanagh added on Sky Sports: “I don’t think we played particularly well.
“I think all the boys are very tired – there were delays coming back and the pitch was very bobbly tonight – we had to concentrate on our touch.”
“All in all it was a good work-out but we can certainly do a lot better than that.
“We saw how China were going to play on video.
“If we had got an early goal we may have got more but the fact we didn’t made the game harder.”
Morrison added: “I’m just pleased to get a run-out, another cap – and another goal.”
Kerr said: ``China got a lot of people behind the ball, they were an awkward team to play against.
“The pitch didn’t help – it was in diabolical condition for a full international – but in the end we got the victory, although I would have liked us to be more fluid and better.
“There’s no doubt mentally and physically the boys put in huge effort in Israel but tonight was different – their system of 5-4-1 was difficult to break down.”
He added on Sky Sports: “It was a risk for us, taking on this game but we’ve had 35,000 come along and look at the number of players we used.
“It’s 21 or 22 over the two games and that has its benefits.
“It’s good for the morale of players to know they’re not just making up the numbers – and I think we used the numbers well.”
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