England 2 Republic of Ireland 1
We should probably be used to this by now. Another England display that was not entirely convincing, rarely fluid and at times, worryingly disjointed, but yet another vital victory secured and important progress made.
This was a get-the-job-done sort of evening for England, who did enough to get the win they needed over the Republic of Ireland and little more.
The result was all that mattered and it showed as Sarina Wiegman’s side took an early lead through Alessia Russo and then looked to control the game, while using up as little energy as possible.
It was not a thrilling game and neither was it one of England’s best performances, but it did not need to be and the win sets up a thrilling clash with Sweden on Tuesday to secure automatic qualification for next summer’s European Championship.
These are thankless sorts of games for international teams. England were expected to be too strong for Ireland and were, but the performance will still draw some criticism, especially for the way the Lionesses lost their way in the first half.
There were too many mistakes, a loose pass here, a half-hearted challenge there to convince anyone that England can go to Gothenburg and win comfortably next week, but as we have seen with the men’s team this summer, getting the win is the most important thing.
The fact the Lionesses were able to do so while rotating the squad to keep some of their biggest names fresh for Tuesday night is also a positive. If there has been a criticism of Wiegman, both during her time in charge of the Netherlands as well as England, it is her reluctance to chop and change when she knows her strongest team.
But Hannah Hampton, picked ahead of a fit again Mary Earps in goal, Alex Greenwood, returned to the starting XI in place of Millie Bright at centre-back, Maya Le Tissier, preferred to the rested Lucy Bronze at right-back and Jessica Park, given the nod over Ella Toone as a number 10, all started at Carrow Road. All four could be on the bench for the tougher test against Sweden, but this was sensible management in the circumstances.
England also had more than enough chances to deliver a more comprehensive beating. Beth Mead and Lauren Hemp both failed to convert in the first half and they had to wait until just before the hour mark for the cushion of a second goal as Georgia Stanway converted a penalty after Hemp had been brought down.
Ireland made things as difficult and as competitive as they could and got a late consolation through Julie Russell, with the last kick of the game, but ruthless and efficient seems to be the English way these days.