Wiegman pleased with England’s battling performance against Republic of Ireland | OneFootball

England head coach Sarina Wiegman was pleased to see her side battle to a 2-0 victory over a really strong and organised Republic of Ireland outfit at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin last night.

The Lionesses established their two-goal lead in the first half after Lauren James and Alex Greenwood netted two early goals. Greenwood could have made it 3-0 from the penalty spot but she was unable to take the opportunity. The hosts came out stronger in the second half but England saw the game out to claim their first win in UEFA Women’s EURO 2025 qualifying.

When speaking in the post-match press conference, England boss Wiegman admitted that her side had been given a tough test by The Republic of Ireland in the second half.

“They let us make the game in the first half, we were totally dominating,” Wiegman said. “We were two up but we should have been up more. We should have been more secure on the ball to really create the big chances but we were a little sloppy.

“Second half, at moments we did good too, but they got momentum and we were struggling. Ireland let us make the game in the first half, but as soon as they won the ball, they wanted to go forward and play counter-attack.

“Later on, they changed that; they wanted to play opportune and get the duels, so they put more players upfront and really wanted to win those battles and second balls.”

England kicked-off their qualifying campaign with a 1-1 draw with Sweden at Wembley on Friday night. Wiegman stated that last night’s game provided her team with a completely different challenge to Sweden.

She said “I think this game was totally different [to Sweden]. They dropped deeper, they tried to play physical. They made it a real fight by putting players upfront and the throw-ins, which were spectacular. We had to really fight in one-v-ones in the 18-yard box.

“It’s a lesson for us; if we win the ball, we really want to keep it, play out of the press and make our own momentum again. That’s what we struggled with a bit. I just hoped that when we got out of those moments, we could create our own momentum by winning those balls and keeping the ball better. That’s where we struggled, we kept giving them the momentum.”

Wiegman fielded Chelsea’s Hannah Hampton in goal rather than regular number one Mary Earps. The England boss highlighted the luxury of having two incredibly good goalkeepers available for selection.

She said “Mary has been really consistent with us. Again, on Friday, she was really good and important for the team, but Hannah is also competing and has really improved a lot. I felt this was a game to give her an opportunity to play. I have to trust that she can do a good job and we also know if something happens with Mary, we have two goalkeepers and then a third in the squad.

“We showed as a team that we wanted to keep the clean sheet and were able to fight. I am really happy with the win.”

England are back in action on 31 May 2024 when they host France at St James’ Park in their next UEFA Women’s EURO 2025 qualifier.