Troy Parrott scored a superb hat-trick as the Republic of Ireland snatched a World Cup play-off place from Hungary’s grasp with a dramatic 3-2 win in Budapest.
Parrott cancelled out Daniel Lukacs’s early header from the penalty spot and levelled for a second time after Barnabas Varga’s stunning first-half strike. He then snatched an unlikely victory in the sixth minute of stoppage time on a day when only three points were enough for Heimir Hallgrimsson’s men to keep their dream alive.
Ireland rather than Hungary will take part in March’s shoot-out by virtue of finishing in second place behind Portugal, who trounced Armenia 9-1 to clinch top spot.
The hosts, who led 2-0 in Dublin after 15 minutes before having to settle for a 2-2 draw, made a blistering start once again, taking the lead after three minutes. Skipper Dominik Szoboszlai played the ball short to Milos Kerkez and after receiving the return pass, whipped a cross to the near post, where Lukacs stooped to head past goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher.
Ireland were handed a glorious opportunity to level when Norwegian referee Espen Eskas was advised to review Attila Szalai’s challenge on Chiedozie Ogbene as the forward ran on to Dara O’Shea’s long ball. Eskas belatedly pointed to the spot and Parrott, whose two goals against Portugal had set up the final-day showdown at the Puskas Arena, took his time before calmly dispatching his penalty past Denes Dibusz.
Firm in the knowledge that a point was enough for them, Hungary – and Szoboszlai in particular – cooled the tempo to retain possession and frustrate their opponents. However, they injected pace with 28 minutes gone and it took a superb save from Kelleher to keep out Roland Sallai’s shot from point-blank range, after Szoboszlai had fed Lukacs to cross from the right.
