After facing the Football Ferna one week ago in Townsville, the Matildas secured an extremely impressive 5-1 win in Canberra.
Following on from a bolstering national anthem at GIO Stadium, Tony Gustavsson’s side came out firing almost immediately in Canberra.
Despite the first major chance of the game falling to New Zealand’s Hannah Wilkinson, Sam Kerr was on hand from a corner to deliver Australia’s first goal of the evening as the 28-year-old notched up her 58th international goal in Green and Gold.
Two minutes later, Australia doubled their lead in as many minutes. A deflected pass fell kindly to Hayley Raso who fired her strike right into the back of the net to give the Matildas a 2-0 lead after 17 minutes of action.
Right on the stroke of the 30th minute, Kerr had her second of the match as the Chelsea striker was played in behind and her deft finish made it three for the Matildas with ease.
However, New Zealand were able to grab a goal back right on half-time as Wilkinson was found in space behind the Australian defence and the 29-year-old made no mistake in finishing her second chance of the first half.
Right after the action got underway in the second half, Catlin Foord’s strike thundered the bar of Erin Nayler’s goal and minutes later, Kerr had a chance to grab her hat-trick but the 28-year-old’s header flew wide of New Zealand’s goal.
Even with such a high-scoring first-half, neither side were able to net a single goal in the second-half at GIO Stadium in Canberra.
Key Takeaways:
HAS TONYBALL FINALLY ARRIVED?
After coming under strife in recent weeks for results not going the way of the 48-year-old’s way, Gustavsson has seemingly silenced those critics in style.
Putting New Zealand to the sword in Canberra on the face puts Australia in a great position leading into to further matches before the Women’s World Cup commences in 2023.
Despite leaving it late in Townsville, with Kerr becoming the hero in the 96th minute the Green and Gold should look to build on the latest friendly matches against the All Blacks.
However, countless chances were missed throughout the entirety of the game and Gustavsson and his fellow coaches need to nail down how clinical Australia are in front of goal for future matches.
SUPER SAM KERR:
How could we not include super Sam Kerr within the key takeaways?
After once again becoming Australia’s hero last week in Townsville with a dramatic winner, Kerr continued her impressive run of form as the 28-year-old put the Kiwis to the sword netting two goals in the first half.
It was classic Kerr as she headed home Australia’s opener from a corner while the 110-time Matilda added her second with a brilliant finish into the bottom-right corner of the New Zealand net.
Kerr has been in outstanding form this season for club and country, with 16 goals in 16 games for English giants Chelsea, her run of form should have the 28-year-old in discussion for the greatest Women’s player in the world currently.
THE MIDFIELD DOMINANCE:
Following on from Australia’s 2-1 victory over New Zealand in Townsville, the Matildas’ midfield imposed their will once again and were led by Katrina Gorry.
The combination of Gorry and Emily Van Egmond dominated for all 90 minutes, strolling around the pitch and being able to pick passes at will to fellow Australian teammates.
Despite not having as an impactful game last time Australia faced New Zealand, the 29-year-old still influenced the Australian midfield heavily and both Gorry and Van Egmond were invovled in the build up for all of the Matilda’s goals on Tuesday evening.
Gustavsson and co. need to now build on such impressive performances over New Zealand with the Women’s World Cup slowly approaching.
