Ireland 0-3 France
Hello, and welcome to this evening’s liveblog.
Tonight is Ireland’s penultimate game before their World Cup campaign gets underway on 20 July against Australia.
With the squad already finalised following last month’s friendly with Zambia, it is now a case of players battling for a starting spot at the tournament itself.
Vera Pauw has gone with a strong side that is unlikely to be too far away from the XI that takes to the field in Sydney in two weeks’ time, so tonight feels very much like a dress rehearsal for that all-important game.
They will likely have their work cut out, however, against a France team currently ranked fifth in the world, 17 places above Ireland.
Confirmation of the two teams…
Ireland: Courtney Brosnan; Heather Payne, Louise Quinn, Niamh Fahey, Megan Connolly, Katie McCabe; Denise O’Sullivan, Ruesha Littlejohn, Sinead Farrelly, Marissa Sheva; Kyra Carusa.
France: Pauline Peyraud-Magnin; Maelle Lakrar, Estelle Cascarino, Wendie Renard, Sakina Karchaoui, Grace Geyoro, Sandie Toltetti, Kenza Dali; Kadidiatou Diani, Eugénie Le Sommer, Selma Bacha.
Referee: Kirsty Dowle (England).
We’re underway…
It’s been a fairly even start.
Neither side has created a serious chance yet.
It’s still fairly uneventful.
France are controlling the play and dominating possession without offering much of a threat so far.
Ireland have the ball in the net but it’s adjudged offside.
Brosnan kicks it long and Farrelly nods it on for Carusa who slots it into the far corner.
It looks like a questionable call judging by replays.
Carusa gets away from Cascarino, before the defender cynically brings her opponent down and gets booked as a result.
There’s also a worrying moment now for Ireland as McCabe is receiving treatment.
We’re now halfway through the first half.
It’s been very tight, but Ireland have looked the more dangerous team, with France a little toothless in attack.
O’Sullivan wins the ball and Sheva shows impressive pace as Ireland counter.
She plays it through to Carusa, but this time, she is rightly ruled offside.
Down the other end, Brosnan needlessly rushes off her line, and Selma Bacha gets to the loose ball first and dribbles around the goalkeeper, but can only find the side-netting from a difficult angle out wide.
McCabe is coming off now and gives the captain’s armband to O’Sullivan as she does so.
The hope is that her withdrawal is only a precautionary measure.
World Cup bolter Izzy Atkinson is on in her place.
France are under the cosh a bit here.
Ireland have just won two corners in quick succession, with both deliveries from Connolly cleared less than convincingly by the goalkeeper Peyraud-Magnin.
Here’s a look at that contentious offside call from earlier…
Ireland have the ball in the net, but the offside flag goes up after Kyra Carusa’s tidy finish
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) July 6, 2023
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IRELAND 0-1 FRANCE (LAKRAR 46)
France have finished the half strongly and got their reward.
Lakrar initially gets the better of Atkinson down Ireland’s left.
Payne tries to clear her cross but instead hits it straight back to Lakrar, whose shot goes through the legs of Brosnan and creeps into the net.
IRELAND 0-2 FRANCE (LE SOMMER 48)
Diani slips through Eugénie Le Sommer who, despite minimal space on the edge of the area, finds the corner of the net for her 89th goal at international level.
It has been a catastrophic end to what has been a decent overall performance in the first half by Ireland.
HALF-TIME: IRELAND 0-2 FRANCE
Pauw and her team will be disappointed to go in 2-0 down after a half in which they more than matched France for the majority of the opening 45.
However, this ankle injury to McCabe is certainly the most concerning moment of that first half from an Irish perspective…
The incident that led to Katie McCabe receiving attention early in the game before being substituted after half an hour
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) July 6, 2023
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The second half is underway…
It’s been a fairly sedate start to the second half.
France are still controlling the play with Ireland looking to hit them on the counter.
As I type, Le Sommer charges towards a loose ball, but Brosnan is alert and gets to it first.
Littlejohn concedes possession on the edge of the area.
As a consequence, Le Sommer is in again, but she can only find the side netting from a difficult angle.
Here’s a look at the two goals that have put France in control of this game…
GOAL – Full-back Maelle Lakrar opens her international account to give France the lead in first-half injury-time
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) July 6, 2023
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GOAL – Eugenie Le Sommer with France’s second goal in first-half injury-time as Ireland trail 2-0 at the interval
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) July 6, 2023
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France are pretty dominant right now.
Louise Quinn has made two important interceptions at the back in recent minutes.
The hosts haven’t really recovered from that double blow on the brink of half-time.
IRELAND 0-3 FRANCE (LAKRAR 61)
France get a third and it’s a soft goal from an Irish perspective.
A corner goes in and Lakrar’s bullet header goes into the net despite the best efforts of Fahey on the line.
France make a double change.
Diani and Dali go off.
De Almeida and Mateo come on.
A record attendance for a women’s international has been announced.
7,633 fans have turned to see the team off at Tallaght.
Very close for France!
Cascarino and Le Sommer are involved in a free-flowing that Mateo ultimately steers inches wide of the post.
Triple substitution for Ireland.
Fahey, Littlejohn and Payne are off.
Agg, O’Riordan and O’Gorman are on.
It’s been a slightly worrying performance from an attacking perspective tonight.
Ireland have still yet to hit the target with a shot.
Two more changes for France.
Le Sommer and Renard are replaced by Ferrer and Perisset.
Another injury concern for Ireland as Farrelly is forced to go off after picking up a knock.
Ireland were set to make a double substitution but had to revise their plans on account of that setback.
Ireland finally make those changes.
Larkin and Caldwell are on for Connolly and Farrelly, who had already left the field a few minutes ago.
Here’s a look at the third French goal…
GOAL – Maelle Lakrar with her second goal of the game as France look to put the result to bed
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) July 6, 2023
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This game is kind of petering out.
The raft of substitutions has killed any rhythm or momentum to the encounter.
The latest France change sees Asseyi come on for Karchaoui.
Bacha runs menacingly towards goal but can’t get a clear shot away and Brosnan makes a comfortable save.
Meanwhile, RTÉ’s Stephanie Roche has given the player-of-the-match award to Carusa, acknowledging it’s largely based on a first-half performance that saw her cause the French defence plenty of problems.
FULL-TIME: IRELAND 0-3 FRANCE
So that’s that.
Ireland started well and were the better team for large portions of that first half, but were ultimately outclassed by an extremely talented French team.
They were unlucky to have Carusa’s goal ruled out for offside and it could have been a very difficult game had it been allowed.
However, a couple of sloppy defensive moments cost Ireland dearly, with at least two of the goals caused by glaring mistakes at the back.
It will also be a concern for Pauw how badly Ireland faded after the break and never really looked capable of getting back in the game or troubling the opposition goalkeeper.
Injuries to McCabe and Farrelly are further potential headaches to Ireland, but neither looked too serious and both were ostensibly withdrawn as a precautionary measure. It would be a surprise if either aren’t ready to go by the time the Australia game rolls around in two weeks.
Right, that’s all from me for now.
Thanks for reading and commenting.
We’ll have more reaction to follow shortly.
