Ireland travelled to Gibraltar tonight in the hope of securing three point in order to jump into third place of Group D following Scotland's loss to Georgia earlier on Friday evening.
Ireland started better than their opponents and were in control of the game from the start. It would take all of 27 minutes for Cyrus Christie to open up the scoring for Ireland when he got the ball on the right hand side, cut inside and struck a lovely shot with the inside of his right foot into Gibraltar's goal.
Ireland were comfortable for the remainder of the half despite not being able to push their lead out further. They remained on top but had no end product despite their dominance.
It took Ireland just four minutes in the second half to extend their lead when Robbie Keane took advantage of some comical defending from their opponents.
Jon Walters took the ball down from a long raking pass and took a shot which hit the post and landed at the feet of Keane, who finished comfortably from two yards. The LA Galaxy player got his second goal of the night when Walters set Wes Holohan up before the Norwich man was taken down for a penalty. Keane made no mistake from the spot kick.
To suggest that Ireland took their foot off the pedal having gone 3-0 up would be false because they never had their foot on it to begin with.
A goal from substitute Shane Long after he snuck in front of a Gibraltar defender to head home would finish the scoring on the night as the game ground to a tepid halt.
Ireland travel back to Dublin as they take on Georgia in the Aviva Stadium on Monday night at 7.45 in the hope of furthering their grip on third place. Scotland take on Germany in a game that should prove difficult for the Scots.
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