England 2-1 Republic of Ireland: Alessia Russo and Georgia Stanway take Lionesses one step closer to Euro 2025 qualification

13 Jul 2024

England's chances of qualifying directly for Euro 2025 were still possible after a thrilling 2-1 victory against Ireland in a rainy match at Carrow Road.

England Women - Figure 1 — Photo Sky Sports

Sarina Wiegman was not pleased with the mistakes her team made during the game but she must have been satisfied with their fast start. They scored a goal in the first five minutes when Beth Mead passed the ball to Alessia Russo who skillfully got past Courtney Brosnan to score.

However, this effectiveness did not represent England as a whole.

The team had a hard time playing smoothly against an Irish team that has not earned any points in their qualifying matches. Jess Park tried to create opportunities, while Russo put in a lot of effort, but nothing was successful as they had a total of 16 attempts on goal.

Wiegman turned to her reserves for motivation, bringing in Millie Bright and Niamh Charles during half-time. However, it was the unfortunate incident involving Ireland defender Niamh Fahey that brought the spark she was looking for.

Lauren Hemp pressured Fahey to make a crucial error in her own penalty area, giving Georgia Stanway the opportunity to relieve the pressure from the penalty spot. Stanway successfully converted the penalty, fooling Brosnan in the opposite direction. Later on, Julie-Ann Russell scored a late consolation goal for Ireland.

Hannah Hampton was chosen over Mary Earps to play in goal, and England began the match without any established full-backs.

England Women - Figure 2 — Photo Sky Sports

Instead, Alex Greenwood and Jess Carter, usually central defenders, played as wide defenders, while Lucy Bronze and Niamh Charles were substitutes for the game.

Jess Park was selected for the attacking position instead of Ella Toone.

England simply needs to not lose against Sweden in Gothenburg on Tuesday in order to secure a spot in next year's finals in Switzerland and have the opportunity to protect their European title.

Sloppy Play Annoys Wiegman

Sarina Wiegman, the head coach of the English national team, expressed her satisfaction with the outcome of the match. She commended her players for their strong start and praised the team effort that led to a fantastic goal. Wiegman believes that the most memorable goals are the ones that involve teamwork, and she was pleased with the performance of her players.

Later on, we had many opportunities but we should have focused on playing more in tight spaces and making runs behind the defense. We were a bit careless at times. While we had possession of the ball, the opposing team continued to apply pressure.

We wanted to get more goals, and I was really annoyed when they scored in the final minute.

The upcoming match against Sweden will be a whole new challenge as they have a different style of play. Our goal is to reach the finals and we are prepared for Sweden's strong performance. We approach each game with a clear intention of what we want to achieve.

The Lionesses will wrap up their qualifying campaign with a match against Sweden in Gothenburg on July 16. If they win or tie, England will book their spot in Euro 2025.