Ireland beat Germany

Republic of Ireland 1-0 Germany

(Long 70')

Ireland recorded a historic victory over Germany to deny the World Champions a spot at the European Championships, for now. Shane Long came off the bench to score a route-one goal with the goalkeeper claiming the assist.

Despite knowing that a point would be enough to qualify, Joachim Löw's side started the match with real intent. Marco Reus, Mesut Özil and Thomas Müller were working well together as an interchanging front-three. The first chance of the game came after eight minutes, but Jerome Boateng couldn't head home when alone in the middle of the box.

Five minutes later and Ilkay Gündogan could have scored, but his effort was blocked behind by Ireland captain John O'Shea. Having created good chances, Germany did then have the ball in the Irish net. Özil was on the end of Reus' cross, but the Arsenal midfielder was in an offside position before he diverted the ball past Shay Given.

Then came two injuries which affected both sides: Mario Götze went down awkwardly after a challenge with James McCarthy and was replaced by Andre Schürrle, before Irish goalkeeper Shay Given was stretchered off for the home side with a muscular issue.

Long goes long

Germany started the better of the two sides in the second-half, with Schürrle coming close on 55 minutes, but the Wolfsburg winger shot over the bar after a long clearance from Neuer and cross from Reus. Müller also came close, forcing a solid save from substitute goalkeeper Darren Randolph.

On 64 minutes, Daryl Murphy had the first real chance of the game for Ireland. His effort drifted wide of Neuer's goal. though, and just 30 seconds later, the striker was replaced by Shane Long. The rapid forward took little time to make his impact.

After a Germany attack was broken up, Randolph sent the ball down the pitch from inside his own box. The long ball kept going, over the German defense and into the path of Long himself. The substitute composed himself before finishing superbly across Neuer into the far top corner.

Four minutes later and the score-line should have been level. A low cross came into the box and after Reus couldn't reach it, the loose ball fell to Müller. In the middle of the penalty area, with the goal gaping, the Bayern Munich forward sent his shot high over the bar.

Boateng and Gündogan both forced good saves from Randolph in quick succession, but Germany could not find a breakthrough. The Irish luck was certainly with the home side, which held on to record a first ever competitive win over Germany. Löw's side now faces Georgia needing a win to qualify for the European Championships, with the World Champions just a point ahead of Poland and the Irish.

Elswhere in the qualifying matches on Thursday, Northern Ireland confirmed its place at a major international tournament for the first time in 38 years with a 3-1 win over Greece. Portugal also confirmed its spot at the tournament in France next year after a 1-0 win over Denmark.