Shamrock Rovers 2
Ludogorets 1
Ludogorets win 4-2 on aggregate
SHAMROCK ROVERS’ CHAMPIONS League run is over, but it ended with a bang rather than a whimper.
Tonight they beat the 11-time, 10-man Bulgarian champions Ludogorets on a soul-shaking night at Tallaght Stadium: it would be churlish to complain they did so by only one goal, but a three-goal loss in the first leg means they drop into the third qualifying round of the Europa League.
The night is thick with consolation for Rovers: this was a superb performance at a raucous ground, and one they will take into next week’s Europa League tie with North Macedonia side Shkupi. Win that, and they’ll be guaranteed the Conference League group phase at worst.
For two sweet minutes everyone believed they would be sticking around the Champions League, leading 2-0 and chasing the goal that would send them to extra-time and within touching distance of one of the great Irish football achievements. Instead Brazilian playmaker Cauly struck as the clock ticked red.
What an effort, though.
Rovers, though shorn of defensive lynchpin Pico Lopes and attacking metronome Jack Byrne, started ferociously. Aaron Greene was picked alongside Graham Burke and Rovers, pressed and harried out of existence by Ludogorets in the first leg, sought to find the second edge of that sword tonight.
Hence they sent Greene sprinting into the space behind the Ludogorets defence, Chris McCann signalling their intent by sending a pass skipping just ahead of Greene in the first minute. Richie Towell’s lofted pass for Burke moments later was better judged, forcing goalkeeper Sergio Padt to scramble out of his area and unconvincingly jut the ball away with his chest.
Rovers, though, mixed fire with ice. A whirr of angled short passes from their own throw in carved space for Ronan Finn to the right of the box, who saw his low, driven cross agonisingly miss a flying Towell at the back post.
Ludogorets threatened only once in the first half, but almost scored twice. First Brazilian Cauly – the star of the show in the first-leg – whipped a cross to the back post that a stooping Sean Hoare clumsily diverted toward his own goal and had time to watch his life flash before his eyes before it skidded the right side of Alan Mannus’ post. Rovers dealt with the following corner but not with the one after that: Bulgarian international Anton Nedyalkov meeting the delivery with a glancing header that Mannus batted away.
Rovers didn’t let their intensity drop, however, but it would be inaccurate to say Ludogorets’ rhythm was interrupted: they didn’t have any rhythm to begin with. Rarely has a side looked so viscerally rattled; manager Ante Simundza a writhing, screaming, head-scruffing, Wenger-cum-Basil-Fawlty mascot of his side’s shocked discomfort. He snatched off his jacket and threw it away after 28 minutes, by which time Rovers were ahead.
Burke took the ball in from the right wing and spun a gorgeous cross-field pass to Andy Lyons, who tortured Nedyalkov all night. He sprinted down the touchline, cut back, and then stood up a cross that deflected slightly but perfectly into the path of Burke, whose header was saved brilliantly by a diving Padt. All penalty-area pinball went against Rovers in the first leg but this time it went their way: the ball broke to Greene, who hooked the ball into the roof of the net.
The roar from Tallaght’s South Stand was elemental.
Rovers kept coming. Greene stretching Ludogorets and pushing them deep; Burke buzzing around and linking the play in the space that was created. He popped up everywhere, spinning to the endline in the first half and sending another brilliant ball skidding across the box that evaded everybody.
Simundza made a half-time statement by making a double sub – two wingers, Rick and Delev – but whatever plans he made were soon sundered. Six minutes into the second-half midfielder Manuel Caufmana tripped Gary O’Neill and, having been booked in the first-half for a foul on Lyons, was sent on his way by Italian referee, Fabio Maresca.
Maresca has a track record of provoking fury – Antonio Conte once confronted him after a Serie A game, screaming IT’S ALWAYS YOU!! - and soon he had the ire of the home fans rolling his way. Rovers broke clear on the counter and Burke slid a pass through for Richie Towell, whose first touch was immaculate, taking him inside the last line of a backpedalling defence before tumbling to the ground under a challenge from the already-booked Karnicnik. The crowd saw a yellow card emerge from the referee’s pocket, briefly goaded Karnicnik…and then erupted in furious disbelief as Towell was booked for diving.
Stephen Bradley made a triple substitution but Rovers needed some last-ditch interventions to hang in the tie, with Sean Gannon throwing himself bravely in front of a goal-bound shot before Mannus saved at Alex Santana’s follow-up.
Rovers pushed forward and lived dangerously on the edge, hauled back from the precipice more than once by some stunning last-ditch defending by Sean Gannon.
Another study in financial chasm: Ludogorets shook their bench and out fell full internationals, whereas Stephen Bradley introduced two teenagers in Justin Ferizaj and Aidomo Emakhu.
Emakhu, though, gave the ground a couple of brief, sweet moments of raw belief. Farrugia took the ball infield delicately and slid the ball into the box, where it fell to Emakhu, who thumped the ball home with a conviction that belied his age.
Rovers needed just one more goal to improbably send the game to extra-time, and just as the fourth official flashed five minutes on the board for additional time, Ludogorets delivered the final cut. Cauly took the ball on the right, cut inside, and dismissed a tight angle by slamming the ball beyond Mannus.
The ground’s deflation was then mingled with stupidity, as some Rovers’ fans festooned the pitch with bottles, taking exception when a Ludogorets player threw one of the objects back. The Rovers bench held out their arms to chastise them, but in truth they were no longer delaying an impossible comeback.
Instead it was a magnificent effort, that fell just short, but can propel them to greater things in the weeks to come.
Shamrock Rovers: Alan Mannus; Sean Gannon, Lee Grace, Sean Hoare; Ronan Finn (captain) (Neil Farrugia, 69′); Chris McCann (Justin Ferizaj, 82′), Gary O’Neill (Dylan Watts, 69′) , Richie Towell (Aidomo Emakhu, 78′); Andy Lyons; Graham Burke (Rory Gaffney, 69′), Aaron Greene
Ludogorets: Sergio Padt; Zan Karnicnik, Olivier Verdon, Igor Plastun, Anton Nedyalkov (captain); Alex Santana, Manuel Caufmana, Cauly (Georgi Te; Bernard Tekpetey (Rick, HT), Kiril Despadov (Spas Delev, HT), Pieros Sotiriou (Igor Thiago, 86′)
Referee: Fabio Maresca (ITA)
Attendance: 6,322