United States 4 (Patterson 18, Coffey 45+4, Lavelle 53, Thompson 63) Republic of Ireland 0
Sixteen meetings, 16 defeats, the Republic of Ireland’s record against the United States failed to take a turn for the better in Denver in the early hours of Friday morning. Two goals in each half gave the States a comfortable victory, one that would have been by a greater margin but for the goalkeeping of Courtney Brosnan who was made captain on the occasion of her 50th cap.
The States took the lead on 18 minutes when a napping Irish defence failed to close down Rose Lavelle after a corner was played short to her, Avery Patterson heading home her cross. Sam Coffey doubled that lead on the stroke of half-time when more slack defending allowed her glide in on the left of the box and place the ball in the bottom right corner.
Eight minutes in to the second half, Lavelle, returning to the side after six months out following ankle surgery, made it 3-0 at the end of a neat move down the right, the World Cup winner turning home Ally Sentnor’s cross. And the scoring was completed in the 63rd minute, Alyssa Thompson skipping past Jessie Stapleton on the halfway line, charging up the left wing before curling the ball past Brosnan.
It was an utterly dominant display by an experimental States side, head coach Emma Hayes giving debuts to two players, goalkeeper Claudia Dickey and defender Lily Reale, and starts to four more players who have less than 10 caps to their names. They did, though, have Chelsea’s Naomi Girma, the world’s most expensive woman player, at the heart of their defence alongside the 109-capped Emily Sonnett, as well as the experienced Lavelle and Coffey in midfield.
It was the first time in two years that an Irish side featured neither captain Katie McCabe nor midfielder Denise O’Sullivan, the former allowed skip this trip after a gruelling season, the latter suffering from a knee injury she picked up when playing for North Carolina Courage last weekend. Megan Campbell was also unavailable after suffering an ankle injury in training.
Ward gave Chloe Mustaki her first start in three years, the Bristol City player posted at left-back, but it was a largely experienced side, Stapleton, Anna Patten and Caitlin Hayes completing the back four. Ruesha Littlejohn, winning her 90th cap, played alongside Megan Connolly in midfield, while Emily Murphy, Kyra Carusa and Lucy Quinn were tasked with providing the ammunition for striker Amber Barrett.
In the end, Ireland could only muster two shots on goal on a night that saw them struggle with the heat almost as much as the opposition, sloppy passing hardly helping their cause. Tyler Toland and Abbie Larkin replaced Littlejohn and Quinn at half-time, Saoirse Noonan, Marissa Sheva and debutante Erin Healy introduced later, but a crowd of just over 18,000 witnessed one-way traffic for the bulk of the game.
The sides meet again on Sunday in Cincinnati, the game kicking off at the Irish time of 8pm in the evening. The stats hardly augur well for that contest – thus far: played 16, lost 16, scored one, conceded 55.
United States: Claudia Dickey; Avery Patterson (Gisele Thompson 59), Emily Sonnett, Naomi Girma (capt, Jordyn Bugg 73), Lilly Reale; Sam Coffey, Claire Hutton, Rose Lavelle (Olivia Moultrie 59); Michelle Cooper (Lynn Biyendolo 73), Ally Sentnor (Yazmeen Ryan 86), Alyssa Thompson (Emma Sears 86).
Republic of Ireland: Courtney Brosnan (capt); Jessie Stapleton, Anna Patten, Caitlin Hayes, Chloe Mustaki (Izzy Atkinson 90); Megan Connolly, Ruesha Littlejohn (Tyler Toland 46); Emily Murphy (Saoirse Noonan 65), Kyra Carusa (Marissa Sheva 64), Lucy Quinn (Abbie Larkin 46); Amber Barrett (Erin Healy 75).
Referee: Vimarest Diaz (Dominican Republic).
