Gibraltar vs. Republic of Ireland: Score and Reaction from Euro 2016 Qualifier

The Republic of Ireland moved back into third place in Group D of UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying with a 4-0 victory over Gibraltar at the Estadio Algarve in Portugal on Friday. Robbie Keane led the attacking charge with a second-half brace.

Cyrus Christie got the Boys in Green on the scoreboard in the 26th minute, and they never looked back. Although it wasn't a completely dominant performance against their pointless foes, they were firmly in control during the second 45 minutes and got the much-needed three points.

Team	1st	2nd	Total	Goals
Gibraltar	0	0	0	-
Ireland	1	3	4	Keane (2), Christie, Long

Ireland manager Martin O'Neill made it clear ahead of the match that his team couldn't look past the fixture despite Gibraltar's lacklustre qualifying results, as Tony Banks of the Daily Express noted.

"We, seriously, will not be good enough to be complacent, certainly not," O'Neill said. "We are expected to win the game and that's our intention. But that's it. We might not be able to break them down as easily as one might think."

Those words proved prophetic in the early going. The favoured side controlled a majority of the possession but struggled to find space for the finishing touch.

Then Christie decided to take things into his own hands. The 22-year-old Derby County defender weaved through the Gibraltar back line before unleashing a perfectly placed shot into the far corner with the outside of his foot.

Derby County Talk hopes the highlight-reel effort will help him once he returns to club football:

The scoreline remained 1-0 going into half-time, but Ireland used a surge coming out of the break to pull away.

Keane, the team's longtime captain, benefited from some good fortune as he netted Ireland's second goal just four minutes into the half.

A nice run by Jonathan Walters allowed him to create enough space to send in a cross. It pinballed around the box, striking a defender's leg, the goalkeeper and the post before dribbling right into the path of Keane, who easily tapped it in.

The Los Angeles Galaxy striker added another moments later. The Green Army were awarded a penalty after Liam Walker took down Wes Hoolahan. Keane stepped up and calmly slotted the spot-kick into the right corner to make it 3-0.

His latest pair of goals got him to 67 in his international career, and, as Sky Sports Statto pointed out, nobody can match his mark in Euro qualifying:

"

International goals 66 & 67 for Robbie Keane. All-time top scorer in Euro Qualifiers with 23 pic.twitter.com/7xITDPDJyP

— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) September 4, 2015"

Keane hasn't lost his enthusiasm, either, as Coral joked:

Any remaining doubt, of which there was little, was put to rest when substitute Shane Long stretched the lead to four with about 10 minutes to go. Jeff Hendrick delivered a pinpoint cross, and the Southampton striker made no mistake as he headed it past Jordan Perez.

That marked the end of the scoring in a routine 4-0 result in favour of the Green Army. Craig Hope of the Daily Mail noted that Ireland now control their own fate:

James Truscott of Vinco Sport commented on the competitive play from Gibraltar:

Both clubs face quick turnarounds for their next matches. Gibraltar will once again look to play the role of spoilers Monday as they take on second-place Poland. The Bialo-czerwoni lost to Germany on Friday, which allowed Die Mannschaft to move to the top of the Group D table.

Also on Monday, Ireland return home to face off with Georgia. It's a match the Boys in Green likely need to win if they are going finish in the top two. The Jvarosnebi put up a fight the last time they faced off, with O'Neill's side claiming a narrow 2-1 triumph.

Ireland must build off their strong second-half showing against Gibraltar in order to collect three points and keep pace with two more qualifiers to come in October.

Post-Match Reaction

Emmet Malone of the Irish Times passed along post-match comments from O'Neill about quickly shifting the focus to the next match against Georgia.

"It's nice but there's no time to dwell on it," he said. "We fly out in an hour and we're going in good spirits, but I saw enough of the Georgia Scotland game to know that there's a renewed spirit about them. We've got to win that game now."

O'Neill also discussed getting back into the Group D race with the victory.

"It was never out of our hands," the manager said. "We had to win all four and I know you were thinking in terms of the Germany and Poland games next month..."

Obviously Ireland still has a lot of work to do just to secure a playoff spot, let alone try to push into the top two. But Friday's victory was another step in the right direction and now the Boys in Green must back it up with another one early next week.