First-half goals from Lauren James and Alex Greenwood fired England to a 2-0 victory over Republic of Ireland in Dublin.
James fired England ahead in the 12th minute from Lucy Bronze’s knockdown header, before Greenwood netted a 18th minute penalty to wrap up victory after Ruesha Littlejohn had handballed Jess Park’s shot on the volley.
Greenwood fired a 30th minute penalty onto the right post but England ultimately clung on for victory in Dublin.
Speaking post-match to ITV, England manager, Sarina Wiegman described the match as “hard” but was happy with how her Lionesses dominated despite having to survive a late battle.
“I think we totally dominated the first half and could have been up 4-0. Of course, later on in the game they came with a strong throw-in and had more opportunities than the first half, it became a fight and we wanted to stay out of the fight. We had to show lots more, being really tight in possession.”
England now sit second in the group behind leaders, France after Herve Renard’s Les Bleues won away to Sweden through Wendie Renard’s 80th minute winner despite Valerie Becho’s red card in injury-time.
Ireland meanwhile remain bottom of the table without a win but guaranteed a play-off place if fail to automatically within the top two teams of this group.
After having stuttered to a scrappy 1-1 draw at home to Sweden in their opening qualifier, England knew that this game was must-win against Ireland who had narrowly lost away to France as both teams looked for their first win in the group.
Manager, Wiegman made five changes to her Lionesses line-up which almost paid off after eight minutes but Alessia Russo’s header from Lauren Hemp’s cross was saved by Courtney Brosnan.
England soon broke the deadlock in the 12th minute as Hemp again whipped in a cross from the left flank, which this time found Bronze to nod down for James to rifle into the bottom-left corner.
Amidst Ireland’s counter-attacking threat, Hemp continued to find herself amongst the thick of the action as her 17th minute cross was blocked out to her Manchester City teammate, Jess Park whose volley was handballed by Littlejohn.
Greenwood duly stepped up and fired the penalty down the middle towards the left corner, as Brosnan dived the wrong way to her left.
England won another penalty in the 28th minute after Louise Quinn was controversially deemed by referee – Lina Lehtovaara to have handballed Hemp’s cross, as the Irish defender tried to beat Russo to the ball.
Greenwood two minutes later stepped up but fired her spot-kick onto the right post and the ball ricocheted wide across the face of goal.
Ireland couldn’t get a foothold into the remainder of the first-half with no shots on target as James saw a 38th minute shot saved, whilst Bronze fumbled her 41st minute shot from Russo’s pass as the Lionesses finished on top into half-time.
At half-time, Ireland manager, Eileen Gleeson substituted Littlejohn for Megan Connolly which proved a wise move as the hosts produced more defensive resilience in the second half to frustrate England.
England substitutes, Beth Mead and Fran Kirby combined in the 65th minute as Mead headed Bronze’s cross across goal, only for Kirby’s shot to be denied by Brosnan’s quick save.
Ella Toone fired over the bar two minutes later after Greenwood’s free-kick was scrappily cleared but Ireland soon began to turn the screws as England were forced onto the defensive in the closing minutes.
Such was Ireland’s late pressure, Kirby made a crucial 77th minute clearance after Quinn dragged her shot from Katie McCabe’s cross wide across goal.
An almighty scare came in the 85th minute as Lehtovaara failed to give Hannah Hampton the go-ahead for her goal-kick, which allowed McCabe to intercept but her touch deflected the ball wide across goal to spare Hampton’s blushes – moments after she blocked Caitlin Hayes’ header.
England eventually survived a nervy finish to pick up their first win and move up to second in the group behind France, who they meet in their next two qualifiers in a blockbuster double-header with the top two teams automatically qualifying for the main tournament.
What’s Next?
Ireland face Sweden in a must-win double-header starting with a home clash in Dublin on 31 May, followed by the return leg in Solna on 4 June.
England meanwhile will also be in action on both dates against France, beginning with a home clash at St James’ Park, Newcastle, on 31 May at 8pm BST, before heading to Saint-Etienne for the return match on 4 June.
Teams
Ireland: Courtney Brosnan, Anna Patten, Caitlin Hayes, Louise Quinn, Aoife Mannion, Ruesha Littlejohn (Connolly 45′), Denise O’Sullivan, Lucy Quinn (Campbell 61′), Heather Payne (Kiernan 61′), Katie McCabe, Kyra Carusa (Murphy 67′)
Substitutes: Jessie Stapleton, Megan Campbell, Megan Connolly, Diane Caldwell, Amber Barrett, Grace Moloney, Lily Agg, Tyler Toland, Leanne Kiernan, Emily Murphy, Isibeal Atkinson, Sophie Whitehouse
England: Hannah Hampton, Lucy Bronze, Leah Williamson, Alex Greenwood, Jess Carter, Jess Park (Kirby 56′), Keira Walsh, Ella Toone (Stanway 75′), Lauren James (Kelly 86′), Alessia Russo (Daly 86′), Lauren Hemp (Mead 56′)
Substitutes: Niamh Charles, Mary Earps, Fran Kirby, Lotte Wubben-Moy, Chloe Kelly, Beth Mead, Grace Clinton, Rachel Daly, Georgia Stanway, Kayla Rendell, Esme Morgan, Millie Turner
Referee: Lina Lehtovaara
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