QuoteBeaten by the better team. Nothing wrong with that just a pity 2 of the 3 goals were easily stoppable
I hear Bratislava is lovely this time of year.
Beaten by the better team. Nothing wrong with that just a pity 2 of the 3 goals were easily stoppable
Dundalk have been really dissapointing tonight,
Looked very tired in the conditions, suspect rovers will also struggle in the heat tommorow. Appolon will play it around.
That’s the gap to the next level in CL qualifying.
The heat is not a gap to the next level. Heat affects everyone the same.
Was not referring to the heat. Was referring to the performance of Qarabeg in the 2nd leg. These are the teams they need to beat to make it to the next round.Originally Posted by paul_oshea
I think the Spanish and argentinian players would be a bit more used to it.
No shame losing to Qarabag, they are a half decent team. Without seeing Bratislava, Id be surprised if they give Dundalk a tougher game than Qarabag
No complaints. The much better team over two rounds won comfortably.
Dundalk are miles away from the level that is needed to progress in the Champions League.
As expected really. Just outclassed. The 2nd goal was just such a gift though. The tie was dead then. Dundalk never looked like scoring except for the attempted back heel chance. Qarabag look good enough to make play-offs at least. Not all over for Dundalk though, but Bratislava won't be much, if any, easier a tie.
That is the unfortunate reality that needs to be grasped.
Good enough to win the league, but nowhere neat good enough for CL progression
Last edited by Ezeikial; 31/07/2019 at 7:20 PM.
Whether it was the heat or not, Dundalk never really got going. Unfortunately, over the two legs it's difficult to argue that the better side went through.
Still a big gap at this level, despite all the development at Dundalk
Dundalk havent really got going domestically never mind Europe. Still waiting to click in to that gear we know we are capable of!
On the plus side. They got through the 1st round as the seeded team and should find Slovan a step down from Qarabag. So reason to be optimistic going into the tie. Dundalk tend to play well in Tallaght too.
Can’t really argue with the result, there is a big gap between the teams and looking at it realistically it’s practically impossible for an Irish team to make the champions league groups coming up against teams at that level in only the second round.
On the game, McEleney was anonymous again and it’s no surprise that we were more positive in both legs when McGrath moved into the middle. Duffy was poor aswell and it was a very sloppy clearance that led to the decisive second goal.
The positive is that we’re still in Europe and I don’t think Bratislava will be close to Qarabags level. It’ll still be a tough game but I wouldn’t be overawed.
That rte article was very annoying. It's like they had set out their stall early on and needed to fill in the bits at the end. For 70 or so minutes bar the first 10-15 mins there were few chances and alrhough qarabag dominated possession there was little happening. Dundalk containing them pretty well. That article suggests it was a whitewash from start to finish. Lazy journalism.
Lazy journalism can then feed into the oacyhe of Irish English league football supporters.....ah well they're still sh1te kinda attitude.
The 3-0 really doesn't do Dundalk justice in fairness.
But they need to completely forget this now and set themselves up for brazzerslava. I did feel the well we've got another couple of weeks regardless talk as defeatism they need to go on now and prove to themselves they're more than capable
Bear in mind we were 5 minutes away from a draw out there a few years back.
OK, they had ten men, but we gave them a game in the home leg too; 2-1 down with ten to go.
On the flip side none of those players are left now, Slovan's budget is bigger than Dundalk's (€10m or so), and the extra two games for Slovan will help them as they get back into the season. They've moved stadium since too, so there'd probably be a much bigger home crowd (their fans were boycotting games when we played them)
But Dundalk should definitely be looking to have a go against them. Qarabag looked way better than Dundalk in the bits I saw; certainly can't imagine Slovan being as far ahead.
Maybe not tonight but over the tie I think the result is close enough to being a fair reflection. Qarabag could and should have been 2 or 3 up in the 1st leg before we got a foothold in the game. Their set piece in the 1st 15mins alone tonight had us scrambling - see that lofted ball from a corner to the back post we see in LoI, compare that to the way the ball was whipped in tonight that only needs a glance of a head to be goal bound. Duffy this season has been poor taking corners whereas Flores looks far more effective. It is what it is,, €1.2m banked with the EL games to go. Assuming we win the league we continue to improve our ranking and maybe pick up another .5 over the next 2 weeks.
Best of luck to Rovers tomorrow/today, I fear an equally chastening evening in Cyprus but certainly hope not!!
Fingers crossed. Qarabag are a better side than Apollon but Dundalk are a better side than Rovers. I don't think Apollon have the ability Qarabag have to shut off space for passing the ball though so hopefully we'll have a better share of the ball. Dundalk did very well given the level Qarabag were able to bring.
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