Emily Murphy bags late winner for Ireland to keep Nations League promotion hopes alive
Nations League B, Group 2: Turkey 1 (Hançar 49) Republic of Ireland 2 (Şeker OG 80, Murphy 89)
Smash and grab. Emily Murphy rescued a 'sloppy'
Republic of Ireland
performance with a last-minute strike to salvage all three points from what looked, for 80 minutes, like a sobering defeat to Turkey in Istanbul.
Slovenia's 2-0 win over of Greece means they are almost certain to top the Nations League Group B2 and secure promotion to the A tier ahead of the 2027 World Cup qualifiers.
To overturn Slovenia's eight-goal advantage, Ireland need a 5-0 win over them at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Tuesday.
'We got the result, but from a performance point of view we have to be miles better on Tuesday,' said Ireland captain Katie McCabe after the win.
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'We didn't move the ball quick enough. Sloppy mistakes. We gave them that sniff to go forward.
'Big kudos to the girls coming off the bench. We needed them, especially Emily. We need a massive improvement to beat Slovenia.'
It could have been much worse.
The contest was ambling towards half-time at the Esenler Stadium. The visitors were in control of possession without threatening to test the reflexes of Turkish goalkeeper Selda Akgöz until Lucy Quinn shuffled off the left and hit one from distance.
Turns out Akgöz has the reflexes of a cat.
Turkey's Kader Hançar and Sejde Abrahamsson with Ireland's Jessie Stapleton. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho
Quinn's effort on target and Abbie Larkin's sharp display down the right aside, Ireland were doing their usual trick against lesser opposition; wear them down and the second-half goals tend to come.
But Turkey had Ireland back-pedalling on break outs from their low block. Miray Cin even drew a save from Courtney Brosnan and the rebound fell to Ebru Topçu which forced a heroic block by Aoife Mannion.
That brought McCabe to life. Six days after she helped Arsenal to a Champions League final victory over Barcelona, the skipper was easing herself into the contest, operating primarily at left-back, until Turkey almost scored.
Seconds after Mannion's block, Denise O'Sullivan cut the ball back for McCabe to curl one from the edge of the Turkish area. Akgöz made another fine save.
From the corner, Akgöz got a glove to Megan Connolly's inswinging ball before Busem Şeker cleared McCabe's shot off the goalline.
For Turkey, every duel, every mini-success was visibly important to them. They sensed the opportunity.
Ireland's Amber Barrett shoots at goal. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho
Still, Ireland were so obviously a superior team. Quick thinking by O'Sullivan and the impressive Larkin gave Amber Barrett an angled look at goal. Again, Akgöz slammed the door shut.
Not much to worry about, Ireland had scored four of their last five goals after the break. There was enough evidence from Connolly and McCabe set pieces, mainly aimed at Jessie Stapleton's head, that they would eventually take a brilliant performance by the Turkish goalkeeper out of the equation.
Instead, the hosts led four minutes into the second half. Kader Hançar dropped to the halfway line to send Topçu sprinting away from Anna Patten with a clever flick. Hançar tracked Topçu's run, ghosting into the box and creating enough separation from Stapleton to control the cross and finish under Brosnan.
'Too cheap, especially at this level,' McCabe admitted afterwards. 'If we want to be pushing for Group A of the Nations League we can't be giving teams that much space.'
On the hour mark, Ireland manager Carla Ward made a triple substitution with Sheva, Larkin and Barrett replaced by three forwards in Kyra Carusa, Saoirse Noonan and Murphy.
This looked like a pre-planned tactic. The plan being that Ireland would be chasing Slovenia's +11 goal difference, not trying to avoid defeat to a country ranked 58th in the world. Ireland are 26th.
With 15 minutes to play, Ward reverted to the traditional Plan B – Megan Campbell's long throwing arms. The slingshot delivered, again.
Ireland's Emily Murphy celebrates scoring the winner against Turkey. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho
Şeker was not celebrating in the 80th minute when she nodded a Campbell catapult backwards and over a despairing Akgöz for the Ireland equaliser.
Victory came from McCabe's dangerous ball into the Turkish area forcing an error as the ball broke to the unmarked Murphy who took her first international goal in style.
Topçu almost grabbed a late equaliser but her shot eased wide of Brosnan's far post.
'We'll go out on Tuesday with a mindset that anything is possible,' said Ward. 'The Irish love that. I love that. As a nation, if we come together, anything is possible.'
TURKEY:
Akgöz; Seker, Hiz, Abrahamsson, Civelek; Topcu, Cal; Pekel (Karabulut 68 mins), Turkoglu (Karatas 83), Cin (Keskin 68); Hançar (Ozturk 75).
REP OF IRELAND:
Brosnan; Mannion (Hayes 46 mins), Stapleton, Patten, McCabe; Connolly; Larkin (Carusa 60), O'Sullivan, Sheva (Noonan 60), Quinn (Campbell 74); Barrett (Murphy 60).
Referee:
Kristina Georgieva (Bulgaria).
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