The Matildas have defied a crippling injury crisis to claim the biggest scalp of coach Tony Gustavsson’s reign as Sam Kerr scored and assisted to set up a famous 2-0 win over Women’s World Cup favourites England.
Unbeaten in their previous 30 games, the Lionesses finally met their match on Wednesday morning (AEST) at a rainswept Gtech Community Stadium in London’s west as the understrength Australians proved their quality against the reigning European champions. Injuries to Cortnee Vine and Tameka Yallop, however, added a sour twist to this sweet breakthrough victory.
With 99 days to go until their World Cup opener against Ireland, this was a statement victory from the Matildas, who now have good reason to dream about the possibilities at their home tournament.
Missing over 700 caps of experience with Caitlin Foord, Steph Catley and Alanna Kennedy among those sidelined through injury, the Matildas looked equal to the task from the first minute in a marked improvement from last week’s surprise 1-0 friendly defeat to Scotland.
Kerr was spared from that outing, and Gustavsson had fuelled speculation that she was carrying some sort of injury by refusing to discuss her fitness status before this game, or confirming if she would be involved at all.
Not only did she start, but Kerr provided the game’s key moment in an otherwise uneventful first half – and then turned provider in the second. She set up Charlotte Grant’s debut goal for her country, which effectively iced the result for the visitors.
The opener came in the 32nd minute, after Australia won a turnover in midfield, when defender Clare Hunt delivered a wonderfully measured ball over the top of England’s defence for Kerr to latch onto. She timed her run perfectly, too, and while England captain Leah Williamson thought she had it covered, she didn’t get enough purchase on her attempted header back to goalkeeper Mary Earps.
Kerr didn’t need a second invitation; indeed, she needed only one touch to flick it over Earps’ head and into the back of the net.
It was the only real clear-cut chance generated in the first 45 minutes by either team. England were slow and stodgy in their play, while the Matildas were very comfortable sitting back, letting English attacks fail, mopping up the crumbs and launching forward themselves.
They set up in the familiar 4-2-2-2 shape that proved so effective during the Cup of Nations, but with Foord out injured, it was Mary Fowler who played off Kerr as a shadow striker, while the wide players Hayley Raso and Yallop were more conservative in their positioning.
It worked well, but Yallop did not last until half-time, coming off just before the break with an apparent ankle injury to be replaced by Vine – the only real blemish in the opening stanza from an Australian perspective.
The second half was more of the same, as the Lionesses struggled to penetrate in attack. When they did, they were turned away by Mackenzie Arnold, who solidified her position as the Matildas’ clear first-choice goalkeeper with a string of impressive saves.
Australia’s advantage was doubled in the 67th minute through a rapid counterattack, which enabled Kerr to break quickly down the right flank – but when she looked up, she saw only one gold shirt in their attacking penalty area among three England defenders.
Instead, Kerr waited for the late run of Grant, who broke into the box and met her skipper’s cross with a diving header, which bounced past Earps for her maiden international goal.
From there, the Aussies were home and hosed, although they had to deal with a late rally from the Lionesses as they searched in vain for a consolation strike – as well as the loss of Vine, who grabbed at her right calf before coming off with five minutes to go.
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