Wasteful Canada unable to beat Ireland in final pre-World Cup friendly at home

[p]The opening stages of the first half were open and it was the Boys in Green who came closest to taking an early lead, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/devoy-dawson/OKqj7y2E/"]Dawson Devoy[/a] came within a whisker of scoring on his senior international debut.[/p][p]Heimir Hallgrimsson’s side were left to rue that missed opportunity as [i]Les Rouges[/i] took the lead shortly after the midway point of the first half, when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/o-brien-jake/Sfgwnrmh/"]Jake O'Brien[/a] inadvertently turned the ball into his own net following an excellent corner from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/eustaquio-stephen/Uk00cWLU/"]Stephen Eustaquio[/a]. [/p][p]With [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/canada/x4toKORL/"]Canada[/a] having kept six clean sheets from their previous seven matches, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ireland/Gfyqk1aG/"]Ireland[/a] knew they had plenty of work ahead of them if they were to get back into contention.[/p][p]Despite the hosts having far more attempts before the interval than their opponents, there wasn’t much in the way of quality in the final third for the Canucks, as only [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/buchanan-tajon/G62SXlFI/"]Tajon Buchanan[/a] was able to register a shot on target by the time the HT whistle was blown.[/p][image alt="Match Stats" id="77efb63f-e1d7-419a-89e3-c55a927116c6" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="0bfa7250-bda8-42ca-b79f-38022a65d9e2" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /][p]The second half kicked into life just before the hour mark as a blatant Cyle [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/larin-cyle/vNpXFtuQ/"]Larin[/a] foul on [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mcgrath-jamie/4xxJOHJ9/"]Jamie McGrath[/a] resulted in a penalty being awarded for the visitors. [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/parrott-troy/K6H9Uptn/"]Troy Parrott[/a] stepped up to take the spot kick and saw his effort saved by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/crepeau-maxime/bTqrxMoS/"]Maxime Crepeau[/a], but [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ogbene-chiedozie/OOBNb1XC/"]Chiedozie Ogbene[/a] rushed in to stroke home the rebound with aplomb and level the contest with his fifth goal for his nation. [/p][p]The hosts showed added urgency in their quest to edge themselves back in front, and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/travers-mark/zLvs4IIe/"]Mark Travers[/a] was called into action to deny Larin the chance to make amends for his earlier error at the other end of the pitch.[/p][p]With FT on the horizon, the Boys in Green almost secured a late winner through [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/melia-mason/bFzF2t9C/"]Mason Melia[/a], but the teenager’s effort was thwarted by an inspired save from Crépeau. Ultimately, both sides had to make do with a draw in Montreal.[/p][p]The result means Canada have still never beaten Ireland in their history but, while this performance was not a spectacular one, head coach Jesse Marsch must still be encouraged with his team’s form heading into their opening game at the WC against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/bosnia-herzegovina/fqe7WYTr/"]Bosnia and Herzegovina[/a] next week.[/p][p]Meanwhile, Ireland will be back in action in September when they kick off their UEFA Nations League campaign away at [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/kosovo/v1DTPQwI/"]Kosovo[/a], doing so having not lost any of their last seven matches inside 90 minutes.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/de-fougerolles-luc/juAwWhAL/"]Luc de Fougerolles[/a] (Canada)[/b][/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/canada-x4toKORL/ireland-Gfyqk1aG/?mid=CrFLkQpp"]View the match stats on Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p]