The Republic of Ireland and Hungary played out a goalless draw in an entertaining friendly in Budapest.

Euro 2020-bound Hungary’s best first-half chance came when Adam Szalai forced Gavin Bazunu into a smart save.

Substitute keeper Caoimhin Kelleher then pulled off two excellent saves to keep Hungary out late on.

Hungary now head to the Euros where they face an uphill task if they are to reach the knockout stages of the competition.

Marco Rossi’s men have been draw in Group F along with world champions France, defending champions Portugal and Germany.

Kenny’s men end their June friendlies with a draw but last Thursday’s first win under their new manager as they beat minnows Andorra 4-1 did offer some badly-needed optimism for the team’s future ahead of September’s World Cup qualifiers against Portugal, Azerbaijan and Serbia.

Irish players booed before match

Against the backdrop of the debate surrounding England players taking the knee in recent friendlies, which saw manager Gareth Southgate condemn a small number of fans who booed his players, the 7,000-strong Hungarian support were vocal in their views as the Republic made the stance before kick-off.

As the visitors took the knee and several home players pointed at the ‘respect’ logo on their sleeves as they stood, a chorus of boos and jeers rang out around the Szusza Ferenc Stadion.

On the pitch it was the Republic who should have taken an early lead when Egan saw his header power off the crossbar from Josh Cullen’s free-kick inside five minutes, however Hungary were quickest to clear away the second ball.

Egan’s chance seemed to settle the hosts, who looked confident on the ball but missed the creative spark of their injured talisman Dominik Szoboszlai as they were restricted to three long-range efforts from Laszlo Kleinheisler.

However the stand-out moment of the first half belonged to Republic goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu with the Manchester City stopper pulling off a brilliant save to deny Adam Szalai as the forward’s header looked like it would nestle in the top corner.

Kelleher steps up on debut

Bazunu was replaced by Liverpool goalkeeper Kelleher at the break and the debutant was immediately called into action as he got down well to keep out Szalai’s snap-shot from the edge of the area.

Troy Parrott, the Republic’s hero against Andorra, had seen little of the ball in the first half as he was well-marshalled by the home defence and was replaced by Daryl Horgan shortly before the hour mark.

Just like against Andorra, Horgan almost had an instant impact as he played in Adam Idah but the forward was beaten to the ball by a last-ditch challenge by Willi Orban.

Idah was involved again as both teams edged closer to a Budapest breakthrough, with the Norwich striker shooting from distance but substitute keeper Adam Bogdan was equal to it, while Shane Duffy pulled off a superb block to deny Loic Nego at the other end.

Kelleher, who deputised for Liverpool’s number one Alisson when the Brazilian was injured last season, pulled off two stunning saves to keep Szalai and Attila Szalai out as the hosts pressed for a perfect send-off.

His first was a brilliant reaction save to keep the Hungarian captain’s header out and he was called into action again from the resulting corner when the ball was half-cleared and defender Attila Szalai powered an effort towards the top corner, only for Kelleher to claw the ball away.

Szalai, frustrated that both Irish keepers had kept him out, had two efforts from range wide, and there was almost a debut to remember for Chiedozie Ogbene in the closing moments, as the forward, who became the first African-born player to represent the Republic, fired into the side netting in the final minute with his first touch of the match.

Sourced From BBC