Georgia Stanway on target as England close in on European Championship qualification with win over Republic of Ireland
By Ben Southby
Published 12/07/2024 at 23:06 GMT+1
Alessia Russo and Georgia Stanway scored for England in a 2-1 win over Republic of Ireland at Carrow Road on Friday to move closer to Euro 2025 qualification. The Lionesses are now just one point away from a place at next year's tournament in Switzerland, as they seek to defend their European title. Sarina Wiegman said she was "happy with the result" but "frustrated" to concede late on.
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Video credit: SNTV
England took a big step towards Euro 2025 qualification with a 2-1 victory over Republic of Ireland at Carrow Road on Friday.
Alessia Russo and Georgia Stanway were on target for The Lionesses, while Julie-Ann Russell netted a 94th-minute consolation for Ireland.
The victory means Sarina Wiegman’s side are just one point away from automatic qualification for next year’s tournament in Switzerland.
England can book their spot in the 14th edition of the women’s Euros with a draw against Sweden, who they face in Gothenburg on Tuesday.
“Happy with the result,” Wiegman said after the game. “I thought we started really well, scored an incredible goal - the best goals are the goals that [go through] many players.
“After that, we created a lot of chances but we should have played more in the pockets and more behind. We were sloppy in moments too and [in the] second half we could have put it to bed.
“[We] still have some very great moments but also some moments that we kept the ball in defence, [made] short passes and, of course, they were pressing on that.
“But we created some very good chances, so you hope that we score some more goals because that wasn’t the level today. Of course, I was very frustrated about the [Ireland] goal.”
After an end-to-end move in just the fifth minute, Beth Mead played her Arsenal team-mate Russo through on goal for the opener, as she rounded goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan before calmly slotting into an empty net for her 20th international strike on her 41st appearance.
England had another one-on-one chance when Lauren Hemp was slipped through, but Brosnan closed the forward down and forced the ball wide to deny Hemp a goal in her home town.
After nearly an hour, England doubled their lead from the spot to relieve some of the pressure that was building as they took another step closer to qualification.
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Niamh Fahey was dispossessed by Hemp, who created a clear shot on goal, leaving Fahey no choice but to haul the Manchester City star to the ground.
Stanway stepped up to take the penalty and sent Brosnan the wrong way to put England into a comfortable position.
Deep into added time, Ireland pulled a goal back in a sloppy moment for England.
Russell managed to get on the end of a long throw, helped on by Tyler Toland, before volleying beyond Hannah Hampton from the edge of the six-yard box.
England held on for the win though as they close in on their place at Euro 2025.
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