International Friendly: Hungary lose warm-up friendly against Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland 2 - 1 Hungary
John O'Shea strengthened his bid to become the permanent Republic of Ireland manager following a 2-1 victory over Euro 2024-bound Hungary.
In a close encounter at Dublin's Aviva Stadium, Troy Parrott netted a last-minute winner, securing O'Shea's first win as interim manager.
Adam Idah opened the scoring in the 36th minute with a header, only for Adam Lang to equalise four minutes later from close range.
Parrott took advantage of several defensive errors to score in the 92nd minute, handing Hungary their first defeat in 14 matches.
The first 30 minutes of the game were lacklustre, marked by loose passes and weary legs in Dublin.
Hungary initially had the upper hand, with Loic Nego curling an early effort over and Andras Schafer shooting wide.
Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher was called into action to save a shot from Milos Kerkez before the hosts took the lead against the run of play.
Just ten days after scoring the winner for Celtic in the Scottish Cup final, Idah was left unmarked to head in Will Smallbone's cross for his fourth international goal.
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However, Lang, who had allowed Idah to escape his marking for the opener, quickly responded for Hungary with a scrappy goal that encapsulated the half.
Liverpool's Dominik Szoboszlai's ambitious 40-yard attempt fell kindly to Willi Orban, who headed back across goal, allowing Lang to fire past the helpless Kelleher.
In the final action of the first half, Idah headed well over, leaving the teams level at the break.
Kelleher, who has impressed filling in for Alisson Becker at Liverpool this season, made a strong save to deny Roland Sallai after the restart, followed by another stop from Schafer's shot from the resulting corner.
Numerous substitutions from both sides disrupted the game's flow - including a debut for Lyon defender Jake O'Brien - and fellow substitute Liam Scales made a crucial intervention on Szoboszlai's delivery to prevent Hungary from taking the lead with 15 minutes left.
Sallai's low effort was easily held by Kelleher, and captain Seamus Coleman fired wide as the match entered injury time.
In a dramatic finale, substitute Parrott outpaced Callum Styles to a loose ball and sprinted towards goal. Despite having team-mate Sammie Szmodics to his left, he chose to shoot, and the power of his strike beat Hungary keeper Denes Dibusz.
Adam Idah can’t do anything wrong these days
— IrishPropaganda🇮🇪⚽️ (@IrishPropaganda) June 4, 2024
His 4th goal for Ireland 🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/o03gRRvRqS
Though it was only a friendly for the Irish, O'Shea was thrilled with the win, celebrating with players and staff in the dugout.
Some reaction
Jordan, an Ireland fan, told us: "Not a great match but a decent performance from a few players. They are a decent side so beating them is great for the temporary management team and the players. Confidence is building and we are excited for the World Cup qualifying campaign and the Nations League matches against England."
