Half-Time Report: Goalless between Republic of Ireland, Germany

The Republic of Ireland are holding Germany to a goalless draw in their Euro 2016 Group D qualifier at the Aviva Stadium.

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The visitors were dominant from the off, passing the ball around with confidence, with Marco Reus seeing a shot blocked before Jerome Boateng nodded over from close range.

Ilkay Gundogan then saw a 13th-minute shot deflected just over the crossbar, and just six minutes later a low cross from Thomas Muller was bundled home by Mesut Ozil, though the flag was raised for offside.

Martin O'Neill's side, however, had several flashes of skill during the first half, with Jonathan Walters forcing a corner in the 35th minute when his effort from inside the box was efficiently blocked.

With five minutes left to play before the break, Ozil came within a whisker of breaking the deadlock when he collected a precise pass inside the box and sliced a shot just beyond the left post.

Despite the positive half-time result for the hosts, they suffered a setback just before the break when goalkeeper Shay Given had to be replaced by Darren Randolph following an injury.