Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Republic of Ireland match report: Robbie Brady strikes to give Irish sight of way forward

Republic of Ireland 1 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1

Robbie Brady was one Ireland's star players at Euro 2016 (Getty Images)

Finally, after a tough night and so much fog here in Zenica, things are a little clearer for Martin O’Neill and the Republic of Ireland.

It might have been from an away goal that was as difficult to see coming as the pitch but, somehow, O’Neill’s side have the advantage in this Euro 2016 play-off after a hard-fought draw against Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Robbie Brady’s 82nd-minute goal gave Ireland the lead here, and the key strike his manager so craved, but the one concern is how quickly they allowed Edin Dzeko to equalise. Bosnia & Herzegovina look well capable of scoring at Lansdowne Road in Dublin on Monday.

Nevertheless, this was a good result for the visitors in hugely difficult conditions due to the fog, with Ireland coming away with exactly what they wanted.

The weight of an away goal seemed to loom over both managers’ thinking as much as it did the players’, with both of them making conspicuous changes to their approach.

Visibility was low in Zenica (Getty Images)

Although his hand may have been forced by the amount of Irish absences – especially in attack, with Jon Walters suspended and Shane Long injured – O’Neill finally started Wes Hoolahan in a difficult away game in this campaign. The Norwich playmaker had previously played away from home only in Gibraltar as O’Neill has favoured a more protective midfield. This at least indicated more progressive football.

Bosnia’s manager, Mehmed Bazdarevic, put in an extra central defender in Edin Cocalic, reportedly to deal with Ireland’s threat at set pieces. It was much more cautious than a normally gung-ho side are accustomed to.

With Hoolahan in the team, Ireland have a much greater variety of attack. The problem is that you actually have to get the ball to make much use of that, and O’Neill’s side struggled with that in the first half. Worse, when they did get it, they gave it away carelessly. A sloppy Glenn Whelan was the main culprit, and it soon became apparent that an initially nervous Bosnia had realised there was little in the opposition to worry them.

The key for the home side was actually making the most of their clear technical superiority, and not allowing the kind of needless errors that would give Ireland a chance.

It was O’Neill’s side, however, who were making most of the errors.

Brady’s struggles down the left let Bosnia in on 10 minutes, with Miralem Pjanic blazing a shot over. Ervin Zukanovic then saw a free header sail by when he probably should have scored, with Dzeko also going close with a half chance.

Zukanovic then tested the Ireland goalkeeper, Darren Randolph, again with another header.

The best Ireland had to offer in response was some botched Brady set pieces as they struggled to get Whelan into the game.

O’Neill’s side were at this point shapeless – something that has been a trend in this campaign – as they struggled to impose themselves on the game and saw a moderate Bosnia repeatedly pick holes in their midfield.

The only mystery at half-time was why Bosnia had not made more of their superiority, but there was no mystery as to the paucity of chances that Ireland were creating.

Bosnia came out in the second half again the better team, but in much worse visibility. A thick fog descended on to the pitch, making it difficult to see from one end to the other.

Despite that, it was still the home side finding each other with more passes, and creating more chances. The lightning Edin Visca was a threat all game down the right, and Ciaran Clark twice had to be alert to cut him out, doing well to divert one dangerous 48th-minute cross back to his goalkeeper.

Edin Dzeko celebrates his goal (Getty Images)

The one big positive for Ireland was that, despite the way they were being pegged back with so little of the ball, Bosnia were struggling to open them up and hurt them.

Most of the home side’s half-chances were coming from breaks in play and mistakes rather than properly constructive attacks.

That was precisely the case on the hour, when a hashed clearance bounced back to Senad Lulic, who forced the best save of the game from Randolph.

The big question by that point was not whether Bosnia could make the most of their opportunities, but how play could continue in the fog without at least using a ball that wasn’t white.

It was somewhat fitting, then, that Ireland scored a goal that nobody saw coming.

On 82 minutes, Brady found himself one on one with Bosnia’s Chelsea goalkeeper, Asmir Begovic, and finished superbly.

The one negative, then, was the lead seemed immediately to sap Ireland’s resistance – or concentration – at the back as Dzeko equalised almost incidentally. The Roma forward showed all of his Serie A quality by diverting a cross past Randolph instinctively.

The trouble for Bosnia is that they need him to do it again in Dublin.