Sheva on target as Ireland shade Poland once again
Marissa Sheva got the only goal of the game as the Republic of Ireland defeated Poland 1-0 in 2027 FIFA World Cup qualifying at the Aviva Stadium in front of 18,267 spectators.
The midfielder squeezed the ball in at the end of the first half from a Kyra Carusa pass-turned-shot, and the result strengthens the team's grip on third place in the group following Tuesday’s victory in Gdansk.
Next up is the Netherlands at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh in June, and Ireland will be without the suspended Denise O’Sullivan after the centurion picked up her second yellow card of the campaign in the 36th minute.
The midfielder was central to Carla Ward’s tried and tested 3-5-2 formation with Katie McCabe and Aoife Mannion operating as wing-backs. There was just one change made to the group that won in Gdansk, with Carusa in for Abbie Larkin in the forward line.
Poland slightly tinkered their team, by introducing Martyna Wiankowska and Nadia Krezyman for Aleksandra Zaremba and Natalia Padilla in a 4-3-3 system that had Barcelona superstar Ewa Pajor as the lone striker.
Out of the familiarity came a stalemate, with clearcut chances few and far between early on.
A squared pass from Krezyman brought things to life in the 14th minute as Pajor was able to escape her marker, only to stab the ball wide at the near post. Ireland went straight up the pitch and, from a similar position, O’Sullivan set up Emily Murphy for a close range strike that rattled the crossbar.
McCabe then crossed from deep and Kinga Szemik punched the ball on for Mannion, who saw a header scrambled away by the Poland defence.
Ireland continued to threaten and the breakthrough came in the 42nd minute from out of nowhere.
Megan Connolly started the move with a pass to Mannion on the right, and she set up an unmarked Carusa for a shot at the back post. It went across the face of goal for Sheva, who was able to get past Wiktoria Zieniewicz and scramble the ball over the line in the 42nd minute.
There was almost a second after the restart as Megan Connolly got free for a right-legged strike and her effort was stopped by Szemik with a stretched save.
O’Sullivan followed that up with a sublime piece of skill to get around Wiankowska, before hitting the cross bar from the tightest of angles.
Sheva also sent in an inviting cross that Oliwia Wos got to before Carusa, and the resulting corner came to nothing in the 66th minute.
Poland managed to win a corner against the run of play in the 74th minute and Brosnan punched the ball away before a white and red jersey could get to it. The goalkeeper picked up a knock from Paulina Dudek in the process, leading to an extended stoppage as the goalkeeper received treatment.
It took some time for the game to reestablish its flow once play got back underway, and Poland emerged with a fanatic push for an equaliser.
It came down to a tame efforts from an Pajor and Patrycja Sarapata, and each one was stopped by Brosnan.
Republic of Ireland: Courtney Brosnan; Aoife Mannion, Anna Patten, Caitlin Hayes, Chloe Mustaki, Katie McCabe; Denise O’Sullivan, Megan Connolly, Marissa Sheva; Kyra Carusa (Abbie Larkin 72), Emily Murphy.
Poland: Kinga Szemik; Wiktoria Zieniewicz, Oliwia Wos, Paulina Dudek, Martyna Wiankowska; Adriana Achcinska (Gabriela Grzybowska HT), Ewelina Kamczyk (Patrycja Sarapata 80), Tanja Pawollek; Paulna Tomasiak (Weronika Araśniewicz 90), Ewa Pajor, Nadia Krezyman (Weronika Zawistowska 65).
Referee: Aleksandra Cesen (Sweden)
