Türkiye 1-2 Republic of Ireland
By Alyce Collett (5/30/25)
Above: Kyra Carusa on the ball in the UEFA Nations League game tonight. Image: Ireland Football Twitter.
The Republic of Ireland are breathing a massive sigh of relief right now after coming from behind to defeat Türkiye 2-1 and keep their albeit faint hopes of topping their UEFA Nations League group alive.
The Irish were off their game for much of the match and looking like a shell of the side that went to the World Cup a mere two years ago, and were for much of the second half staring down the barrel of a defeat thanks to a Kader Hancar goal early in the half.
However, a Busem Seker own goal and a wonderful strike from Emily Murphy turned the tide of the match and gave Ireland the full three points late in the game.
There was plenty of end to end action early in proceedings. The Irish again dominated possession, but it was a far more open game than the reverse fixture had been in February, with Türkiye not deploying the low block they had at Tallaght. Both sides certainly had their opportunities to score, but could only record a small number of actually realistic chances on goal.
The Irish spent enough time in attack, but their problem was that the last pass into the box was struggling to find its target inside the box.
Momentum continued to swing between the two sides as the half progressed and the defending from both sides was not pretty at times, but it was impressively solid and neither side managed to score a goal in the first half.
The half time stats told a frustrating story for the away side and its fans. The Irish dominated possession, and had three more shots on target than Türkiye had, but just could not finish in front of goal.
Türkiye did not take long to put Ireland on the back foot in the second half, only taking three minutes to score the first goal of the game. Some strong passing from Türkiye and disorganisation behind the ball saw Hancar able to score into the bottom corner and passed an outstretched Courtney Brosnan.
This just rattled an already rattled Irish side even further, with the passing from the visitors poor and far below their usual standard.
A telling move came at the hour mark when Republic of Ireland manager Carla Ward made a triple substitution, really trying to rejig her attack and see if the trajectory of the match could be changed.
However not even fresh faces or even playing some players in different roles could change the script for the Republic of Ireland, as Selda Akgöz and her defensive cohort stepped up their defensive pressure and really did not give the Irish any look ins. The defence was well supported by the likes of Meryem Cennet Çal, who had impressed all game in midfield.
Just as serious questions were starting to be raised in the Irish camp, the visitors finally managed to get a goal after Seker accidentally headed a Megan Campbell long throw back over Akgöz and into her own goal.
The Republic of Ireland kept attacking as the half progressed, but as the minutes ticked down it was not clear if a match winner would be found.
Fortunately for the Irish they found themselves a winner in the 89th minute, when Murphy pounced on a wayward Sejde Abrahamsson header to smash a shot right into the back of the net.
Türkiye kept pushing late and had a couple of close chances, but ultimately could not equalise.
Teams: TÜRKIYE (4-2-3-1): Akgoz, Seker, Hiz, Abrahamsson, Civelek, Topcu, Cal, Pekel, Tukoglu, Cin, Hancar. Substitutes: Kucukbirinci, Karagenc, Karatas, Karabulut, Caglar, Ozturk, Houssein, Tag, Icinozbebek, Keskin, Sakar, Sahin.
Scorer: Hancar 49’
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND (4-3-3): Brosnan, McCabe, Patten, Stapeleton, Mannion, O’Sullivan, Sheva, Connolly, Lucy Quinn, Barrett, Larkin. Substitutes: Campbell, Louise Quinn, Toland, Littlejohn, Healy, Moloney, Hayes, Carusa, Noonan, Murphy, Mustaki, Whitehouse.
Scorers: Seker (OG) 79’, Murphy 89’.
Referee: Kristina Georgieva (BUL).
Attendance: 760.
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