Adam Idah came off the bench to earn the Republic of Ireland a point from a dramatic draw against 10-player Hungary in their opening World Cup qualifier.
The Swansea striker’s header in the third minute of added time made it 2-2 after Ireland had fought their way back from 2-0 down to stave off the spectre of defeat.
On a night when controversial Hungarian Prime Minster Viktor Orban was among a sell-out crowd of 50,137 at the Aviva Stadium, Ireland’s opening Group F fixture got off to a nightmare start when Barnabas Varga and Roland Sallai, who was later dismissed, scored inside the first 15 minutes.
Roma striker Evan Ferguson reduced the deficit early in the second half and Sallai’s premature departure left the technically more gifted Hungarians under siege.
They had almost managed to see out time when Idah intervened to keep Heimir Hallgrimsson’s men on an even keel in the race for second place behind Portugal, who had earlier won 5-0 in Armenia, as they themselves head for Yerevan on Tuesday.
The nation had been enveloped by a collective optimism in the build-up to the game, but that dissolved within two minutes when Matt Doherty’s ill-directed header fell to Callum Styles and he lifted the ball into the penalty area, where Varga, played onside by Doherty, had stolen in behind Dara O’Shea to finish emphatically.
The hosts were living dangerously and skipper Nathan Collins was mightily relieved to see Varga head wide at the far post after Milos Kerkez’s 13th-minute cross had sailed over the Brentford defender’s head.
They were punished further with just 15 minutes gone when Sallai rose to glance captain Dominik Szoboszlai’s corner past the helpless Caoimhin Kelleher as disappointment turned to disaster.
Styles fired waywardly over as the Irish defence rocked once again, seemingly unable to contain Varga and Sallai as their efforts to drag themselves back into the game left space for the visitors to exploit.
Szoboszlai, who had been asked to sit in front of his back four, picked up a booking for dragging back Josh Cullen on the half-hour mark, with the home side retaining the ball, but largely unable to pierce Marco Rossi’s well-organised team.
Evan Ferguson scored the Republic of Ireland’s first goal in their 2-2 draw against Hungary
Kelleher had to be alert to prevent Sallai from converting Bendeguz Bolla’s 44th-minute cross after the wide man had been afforded acres of space down the right and, although Ferguson forced a good save from Denes Dibusz – his first of the game – after holding off defender Willi Orban in stoppage time, the half-time whistle was accompanied by a smattering of boos.
Ireland were back in it within four minutes of the restart when, after Attila Szalai had been booked for upending Ferguson as he rounded him, Dibusz was only able to parry Ryan Manning’s free-kick and Sammie Szmodics and then Collins helped the ball on for the frontman to stab home.
Their hopes were boosted further three minutes later when Sallai was dismissed for a crude challenge on O’Shea and, although Kelleher twice had to save from Bolla, the momentum looked to have shifted, with Manning heading over from Josh Cullen’s driven cross.
To their credit Hungary, aided by the invention of Szoboszlai and substitute Bence Otvos, continued to cause problems, but the hosts looked the more likely to score, with Collins going close from a Jake O’Brien cross before Chiedozie Ogbene and Jack Taylor arrived to add fuel to the fire.
Dibusz somehow managed to claw away Finn Azaz’s 72nd-minute header and then repel Ogbene’s drive six minutes later before getting fingertips to Manning’s drilled free-kick, but there was nothing he could do to keep out Idah’s bullet header at the death.
