The Republic of Ireland suffered a 3-2 defeat to Russia at the Aviva Stadium in a pulsating encounter on Friday night.
The Russian went 3-0 up with goals from Alexander Kerzhakov, Alan Dzagoev and Sergei Shirokov, before Robbie Keane and Shane Long gave Giovanni Trapattoni's men a lifeline.
Ireland almost took the lead inside the opening ten minutes, when Keane, Aiden McGeady and Kevin Doyle peppered the Russian goal. The ball, however, stayed out.
Minutes later, the visitors were in front. Richard Dunne committed a foul on the edge of the Irish box and, when the ball was delivered at pace, the Irish defender stood off and allowed Kerzhakov to squeeze home his shot at the far post.
Half an hour into the match, Russia had a second. Aiden McGeady was caught infield, allowing Aniukov to proceed unmolested down the right flank. His cross was cleverly dummied by Kerzhakov before Dzagoev slid the ball home.
Ireland, for their part, were limited to weak efforts on goal from Doyle and John O'Shea, with most of the attacking play coming from Andrey Arshavin and company.
Five minutes into the second half, and it was effectively game over. Shirokov fired in a shot that Richard Dunne tried to get to, but the Aston Villa man only succeeded in diverting the ball past Shay Given.
Ireland were given a lifeline in the 70th minute when Yuri Zhirkov clipped the heels of Keane. The Tottenham striker picked himself up to slide the penalty past Igor Akinfeev.
Thirteen minutes from time, hope was properly restored to the Irish cause. A ball was pumped into the Russian box and Richard Dunne headed into the path of McGeady. The Spartak Moscow man saw his shot saved by Akinfeev before Shane Long, on as a substitute for Liam Lawrence, bundled the ball home.
Pavel Pogrebnyak has the perfect chance to wrap things up for Russia in injury time, but Zhirkov's cross somehow hit his standing foot from five yards out.
Keane thought he had another penalty in the final seconds, but his appeal was to prove fruitless and the final whistle was blown.