Giorgos Masouras gave Greece a 2-1 victory over the Republic of Ireland, leaving their chances of qualifying for Euro 2024 hanging by a thread.
The winning goal was scored by Olympiakos midfielder Masouras, giving Gus Poyet's team three points from their first two Group B games while Ireland had none going into Monday's home game against Gibraltar.
The visitors had hope after defender Nathan Collins earlier cancelled out Tasos Bakasetas' 15th-minute penalty, but in reality Stephen Kenny's team, who had defender Matt Doherty sent off in the last seconds, were outplayed for significant stretches at the OPAP Arena in Athens.
Josh Cullen, Jason Knight, and Will Smallbone were constantly under pressure from Trabzonspor's Bakasetas, Masouras, and Petros Mantalos, who tortured Ireland the entire time.
Kenny had refrained from calling the match a must-win event before it started, but a challenging group—which also includes France and the Netherlands—has quickly turned into an almost insurmountable one.
Due to injury, Kenny was forced to make changes to the starting lineup for the first qualifying match against France in March, which included Callum O'Dowda, Darragh Lenihan, Adam Idah, and Smallbone, who was making his competitive debut.
After seeing Bakasetas' piledriver deflect just wide, goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu had to rip a fifth-minute attempt from defender Konstantinos Mavropanos out of his top corner. He then palmed another Mavropanos shot over the crossbar.
Greece forced a number of early corners, trapping the visitors deep inside their own half. As a result, Bazunu had to rush from his line to deny Masouras with a challenge that sparked feverish calls for a penalty from the home crowd among a sparse crowd.
Although their cries may not have been heard on that particular occasion, they were heard with 15 minutes left when Sheffield United defender O'Dowda's block was brought to the attention of Austrian referee Harald Lechner .
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