Jan Durica scored a first-half equalizer as Slovakia held Ireland to a 1-1 draw Tuesday in a European Championship qualifier.
Defender Sean St. Ledger had given Ireland the lead, and captain Robbie Keane squandered two chances to score a winner for the visitors. Goalkeeper Jan Mucha saved Keane's tame penalty in first-half injury time, then the forward shanked an 86th-minute attempt high from just outside the right corner of the six-yard box.
Mucha had received a yellow card after taking down Irish winger Aiden McGeady in the penalty area, but atoned with a save of Keane's chest-height shot. He got both hands to the ball and punched it clear as Keane telegraphed his intentions of shooting to the left.
"I was sure that I would save it," Kucha said.
Ireland took the lead in the 16th minute from a long free kick into the box that rebounded off the left heel of Tomas Hubocan. An unmarked St. Ledger collected the ball on the edge of the penalty area and shot low just inside the near post, beating a lunging Radoslav Zabavnik.
Thousands of traveling Irish fans sang a traditional ballad, "The Fields of Athenry," during celebrations that frequently drowned out the Slovak fans.
Slovakia scored the equalizer 20 minutes later from a corner kick, when Juraj Kucka's backwards header in the box found Durica at the far post. He leaped high for a close-range header as his marker, midfielder Glenn Whelan, tumbled to the ground.
Durica's equalizer following protracted Irish pressure "kind of killed us a little bit," said Ireland striker Shane Long.
"We're a little bit disappointed because the game was there for the taking," Long said. "But it's a hard place to come, they're one of our main rivals in the group, so a point away from home wasn't a bad result."
The draw left Slovakia and Ireland in a three-way tie for second place alongside Armenia in Group B. Although all three nations have seven points from four matches, Armenia leads Ireland and Slovakia with a better goal difference. Russia leads Group B with nine points.
"It's a group with balance. Without injury, I think we could win it for sure," Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni said.
Lineups:
Ireland: Shay Given; John O'Shea, Sean St. Ledger, Richard Dunne, Kevin Kilbane; Keith Fahey (Andy Keogh 72), Glenn Whelan, Paul Green (Darron Gibson 42), Aiden McGeady; Robbie Keane, Shane Long.
Slovakia: Jan Mucha; Erik Jendrisek (Tomas Oravec 84), Jan Durica, Kornel Salata, Radoslav Zabavnik; Vladimir Weiss (Miroslav Stoch 70), Miroslav Karhan, Tomas Hubocan, Juraj Kucka; Stanislav Sestak (Filip Holosko 70), Marek Hamsik.
