Republic of Ireland 0 Sweden 3
Full-time: Ireland 0 Sweden 3
Ireland are finally put out of their misery. In many ways, this was Ireland’s most positive performance of the campaign so far, but they still ship three while failing to trouble the scorers themselves. What’s more, Katie McCabe was feeling her hamstring towards the end there. Worrying signs ahead of Tuesday’s rematch in Sweden.
90+4 mins: Andersson sees yellow for time wasting. Sweden work down the other end of the pitch and Brosnan is forced into another save! She was blindsided by the mass of bodies in front of her, but she’s reacted well and late to deny the visitors a fourth.
Five additional minutes at the end of the second half.
Caitlin Hayes is named player of the match. She has been good, bailing Ireland out of trouble on a number of occasions, but that is definitely the home broadcaster advantage there... There is no way that shouldn’t be a Swedish player. C’est la vie.
88 mins: CHANCE! Murphy is able to shoot on the turn inside the box but, under pressure under the defender, she’s off balance and the shot rolls gently to Musovic in goal.
GOAL SWEDEN
Ireland get hit on the counter attack! McCabe shows too much of the ball to the defender when trying to tee up a cross. Kaneryd leads the charge down the pitch as Sweden break, eventually teeing up Vinberg at the edge of the box. Brosnan makes the initial save, but is out of position when it falls to Kaneryd who dinks the ball into the net for her second of the day.
84 mins: Lundkvist sees yellow for hauling down Campbell. Meanwhile Barrett is subbed off, Emily Murphy on in her place.
83 mins: Ireland do swing a ball into the box, via a McCabe free-kick, but Hayes’ header on goal is a tame on. Simple save for Musovic.
81 mins: There will be a lengthy enough stoppage here as Andersson gets treatment following a nasty collision with Mannion. She’s ok thankfully, but they had to take their time given it was a head knock.
79 mins: Sweden really are starting to show their class in possession now. Ireland struggle to get it back off them as the chance is fashioned for Angeldal at the edge of the box. She lets fly but it’s a tame effort, high and wide.
75 mins: Triple change for Ireland. Carusa, Agg, and Patten are off, Campbell, Mannion and Kiernan are on. Campbell is straight away called into action with a long through but Lundkvist manages to clear. The crowd are getting going with these long throw-ins.
70 mins: Barrett has comfortably been Ireland’s best player thus far. She bursts past her marker, shrugging her off with disdain to keep hold of the ball. She tries to pick out Carusa in the box but the cross is inches too high. Sums up Ireland’s night. Good work rate, but no end product.
67 mins: Double change for Sweden. Asslani has calmed down a bit since her card and a series of fouls which made her a red card risk, but she is gone along with Janogy. Vinberg and Hammarlund are summoned from the bench.
GOAL SWEDEN
What a finish. Sweden beat the press with ease, progressing up the park far too easily. Once they make their way down the right and the cross falls for Rolfo at the edge of the box, she pauses, picks her spot and curls a beauty past the dive of Brosnan. Superb strike.
60 mins: Eileen Gleeson makes her first change of the night. Tyler Toland is on for Jess Stapleton, a like for like change to sit in front of the defence.
58 mins: Carusa and McCabe get their wires crossed. First, the striker tries to find her captain in stride but the pass is underhit. Then, after winning it back, Carusa thought McCabe was picking a different run and gives the ball away. McCabe can’t hide her frustration.
55 mins: SAVE! This time it’s Brosnan to the rescue. Rolfo finds herself in space, one on one with the box but the Irish ‘keeper is able to turn the shot behind. Strong save, but Rolfo hit it at a nice height for the stop.
52 mins: CLOSE! Brosnan oh so nearly with the howler which costs Ireland. She spills a routine ball across the six yard box and it’s Jess Ziu who comes to the rescue, sliding to take the ball away from the toes of Janogy who would have had an open goal to fire into.
46 mins: Lily Agg takes an awful whack to the head chasing a cross. She seems to be ok, thankfully, although I’m not sure how. That was some collision.
45 mins: We’re back underway with Sweden getting things underway. We’ve been given an attendance figure, 22,628 have made their way to Lansdowne Road tonight.
Rytting Kaneryd’s goal is the difference between the two sides at the break. Ireland’s ploy of pressing high up the pitch with the Barrett-Carusa duo, winning back the pressurised ball and attacking down the flanks is working. Agg and Barrett have had guilt-edged opportunities from that tactic, but Sweden, with the one real chance they’ve had, were far more clinical.
Plenty of encouraging sides for Ireland against a higher-ranked side, but they have lacked the required cutting edge.
Half-time: Ireland 0 Sweden 1
Both sides seem happy enough to play out a tame final few minutes before the half-time whistle goes.
Three minutes have been added on at the end of the first half.
42 mins: Hayes bails Ireland out of trouble again. Stapleton is caught in possession, allowing Sweden to break. Asslani eventually gets the cross in, there is an attacker with a free header but Hayes comes across to steer the ball behind for a corner.
Sembrant and Agg both see yellow for continuing pushing and shoving in the box, an act which delays the corner. Eventually the ball comes in from Andersson and Ireland clear.
40 mins: Close! Half a chance as a mistake allows Barrett to get in behind. Musovic in the Sweden goal is quick off her line to come out and slide to claim possession. Further up the pitch, Asslani gives away a second foul in quick succession. She needs to be careful given she’s already on a yellow.
38 mins: Ireland continue to try the wide route, especially down the right with Ziu and Barrett. Sweden appear to be stepping up, though, in response, and Ireland are caught offside on back to back possessions.
32 mins: CHANCE! Ireland should really score again. This time it’s Ziu with the cross after McCabe shows her strength to hold onto possession. Barrett gets on the end of the cross three yards out, but it’s just a touch high. She can’t keep the header down as it blazes over the bar.
31 mins: Asslani sees yellow for fouling McCabe and then protesting a bit too vociferously. That’s the first Swedish card in two and a bit qualifying matches.
29 mins: In the same way Barrett is causing problems down the right, Kaneryd is doing the same on the opposite flank. This time she gets into the box only for Hayes to get her body in the way and stop what could well have been a second goal.
GOAL SWEDEN
25 mins: Wow, Ireland are not clinical at one end, Sweden are down the other. A loose ball in midfield is spread wide by Rolfo and then Asslani. Ireland aren’t set in defence and Kaneryd takes it in space on the right edge of the box. One on one with Brosnan, she lifts her finish beautifully over the ‘keeper and into the back of the Irish net.
22 mins: CHANCE! Ireland should have scored. The ball in behind to Barrett is a beauty, the Donegal women staying strong in possession before finding a way of getting the ball across the six yard box. Agg of all people is the furthest forward, she’s under pressure as she tries to steer it goalwards but it trickles inches wide. What a chance.
17 mins: First major piece of work for Brosnan in the Irish goal. Asslani’s corner into the box swings dangerously towards the front post. Brosnan has to wade through a mass of bodies but does well, punching to the edge of the area before Ziu completes the clearance.
15 mins: Now Sweden trouble with a shot, albeit an unthreatening one. Angeldal scuffs her effort from the edge of the area after Andersson worked well down the byline to get the ball into the area. Ireland are fortunate not to concede a corner given it did flick McCabe on the way through. The officials didn’t spot it.
12 mins: Ireland aren’t struggling to get the ball into advanced positions. McCabe is isolated on the left but, after spreading it back around the midfield, Barrett takes the ball on the opposite flank. Her cross has plenty of venom on it but it’s too high to threaten. Eileen Gleeson will be happy enough with the way her side has started.
9 mins: Ireland threaten now for the first time. Connolly wins the ball back in midfield and Carusa spreads it wide to Ziu. She drops the shoulder before taking on her marker on the outside. The deflected cross earns Ireland a corner, the first of the game. It’s scrappy stuff with the ball pinballing around the box after McCabe’s delivery. Eventually, the offside flag goes up against Stapleton and Sweden can clear.
7 mins: A long period of Swedish possession is the first time they’ve looked comfortable in this contest after Ireland flew into them in the opening few minutes. Kaneryd tries to get on the end of a through ball to send it into the box but it’s too close to the goal line to do any real damage. Ireland clear.
4 mins: Now Sweden commit a foul through Bjorn. McCabe is on the end of it, but while she seems to be ok Bjorn needs a lengthy stop for some treatment. Eventually, she seems ok and play restarts.
3 mins: Ireland certainly are up for this. Lily Agg this time goes sliding in with a crunching tackle on Rolfo. She’s probably lucky it’s just a foul, no yellow card.
2 mins: Ireland press hard high up the pitch early on. Well, Carusa does by herself but it works, her challenge on Sembrant forcing a loose ball which, fortunately for the visitors, goes out of play for a Sweden throw.
1 min: We are underway at the Aviva! Ireland have the ball to start, Kyra Carusa doing the honours. Katie McCabe playing right to left as you look at it on your TV screens, towards the smaller stand.
Anthems done. We’re seconds away from kick-off. There’s a decent sized crowd at the Aviva, though the upper tier is looking a bit sparse.
Finally, there’s Mary Hannigan’s match preview. From McCabe’s prematch trek to Australia and back, O’Sullivan’s injury and the battle for relevance in a group of supreme quality, there are talking points aplenty heading into this one.
[ McCabe’s presence a boost for Ireland in advance of tough Sweden testOpens in new window ]
A few final bits of prematch reading. First up is Aoife Mannion, on the bench tonight, who spoke to Mary Hannigan about winning the FA Cup with Manchester United.
Here is the Ireland team for this evening. Straight off the bat, the headline news is that Denise O’Sullivan has lost her battle to be fit - she’s not even named among the subs.
Few players are more deserving of a change in fortunes than the 25-year-old from Cavan. She made her senior Irish debut eight years ago, but an unrelenting string of injuries since then have limited her to 32 caps, when her talent could easily have yielded at least twice that tally.
— Mary Hannigan on Leanne Kiernan
Next up, our own Mary Hannigan heard from Liverpool and Ireland striker Leanne Kiernan during the week.
If we are to get something from either game, I suspect it will be from the second because that opportunity is there to learn from the first. There’ll be a little less pressure on the team, and there’s a chance Sweden will be complacent if they were to win in Dublin. That’s me perhaps using rose tinted glasses because the Swedes, in both games, will be a huge challenge. But you live in hope.
— Karen Duggan
We’ll start running through our list of required reading. First up it’s Karren Duggan’s column which runs through the different levels Sweden’s players are operating at club level.
Lest ye be daunted at Sweden’s third place finish at last year’s World Cup, where Ireland failed to get out of their group, Eileen Gleeson’s side have had some success in recent history against tonight’s opponents. In the qualifiers for that World Cup, Katie McCabe’s strike saw Ireland bag a point on the road against Sweden.
So far in this campaign, the Swedes have drawn with England and lost to France. Ireland lost to both of the other sides in League A.
The early good news for Ireland may well be that Swedish boss Peter Gerhardsson is missing key players such as Arsenal’s Stina Blackstenius, forwards Anna Anvegard and Rebecka Blomqvist, midfielder Lina Hurtig and centre-back Amanda Ilestedt for tonight’s clash.
Good evening all and welcome to a Friday night of football action. Ireland are back at home at the Aviva Stadium as they look to secure their first points of this Euro 2025 qualifying campaign.
After defeats to France and England to open up this international block earlier on this year, Ireland have been hit hard by the step up after being promoted through the Nations League last year. Things don’t get any easier with back-to-back games, starting tonight, against Sweden, the world’s sixth best team according to the Fifa rankings.
My name is Nathan Johns and I’ll be guiding you through all the action tonight as it happens. Kick-off is at 7.30pm but we’ll be building up to the start over the next few hours.
