‘We have become too passive’ – Finns apologize to fans as Irish defeat leads to boos in Helsinki

Both teams came into Thursday’s game after a series of defeats, making it a relegation battle, and the home side took a 1-0 lead into half-time when Joel Pohjanpalo capitalized on a terrible mistake by captain Nathan Collins . But a vibrant second-half display from a much better Irish team earned the away side a victory, with Robbie Brady assisting Liam Scales’ equalizer before scoring the winner.

The Finns advanced late to try and snatch victory, but were caught out by some aggressive Irish attacking play, particularly the sure-fire winner from impressive substitute Festy Ebosele, who was hailed by the visiting team after the game for his efforts. ,

“We set the bar so high that a lot is expected of us and that we will beat teams of the caliber of Ireland. That is our aim. The Finnish public came here to see a successful team. We were disappointed and I have to apologise.” that’s why,” said coach Markku Kanerva.

“We knew that Ireland were strong in special situations and that they could equalize. We had the momentum to score another goal, but we defended stupidly, which resulted in Ireland’s second goal. It was a bitter defeat. We would have deserved more, but this is like the football is raw, Ireland defended their side of the ball strongly and we were stuck.

The home team were booed by their own fans after the game and goalscorer Pohjanpalo admitted he had the right to express his displeasure at having lost from a winning position.

“Three defeats in a row, it’s so natural for there to be comments. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough. We had our own chances to score again but good margins win games and those margins decided this game,” he said.

Midfielder Leo Walta added: “We were very passive. We let them control the game too much. We didn’t have much of the ball and we weren’t able to attack as much. We defended very deep and should have changed our game to be more aggressive.”