Matildas great sees red as England hammer Australia 3-0
A Matildas great saw red as Australia was comfortably dealt with by England in front of a sellout crowd, with Sam Kerr having little impact in her return as captain.
The Matildas have been outclassed by a superior England in Derby.
Forced to battle with a player less for most of the game after the first-half send off of Alanna Kennedy, Australia was beaten 3-0 by the Lionesses on Wednesday morning (AEDT).
It was a margin that could have been greater, with the Matildas starting nervously and offering next to nothing in attack.
As expected, star striker Sam Kerr reclaimed Australia’s captain’s armband in just her second appearance back after an absence of almost two years from the international arena.
During her 70 minutes on the field, Kerr was often left frustrated by her side’s lack of penetration going forward.
The Chelsea attacker did force a sharp near-post save out of her club teammate, England goalkeeper Hannah Hampton, in the 27th minute
However, it was a rare chance for the Australians, who fell well short in their bid for revenge after being knocked out of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in the semi-finals by the Lionesses.
England dominated from the outset, and had the ball in the back of the net in the 11th minute.
However, celebrations were quickly halted, with forward Aggie Beever-Jones correctly ruled offside.
Disaster struck the Matildas in the 19th minute when Kennedy, being used in a defensive midfield role, was sent off for a professional foul on England attacker Alessia Russo.
Kennedy had no-one elses to blame after putting herself under pressure by losing possession.
Russo then pounced on the loose ball and charged towards Australia’s goal, leading to Kennedy halting her progress by grabbing her from behind just outside the penalty area.
Romanian referee Iuliana Demetrescu had little choice but to issue Kennedy a straight red card, reducing the Matildas to 10 players.
Via the subsequent free-kick, England went ahead.
Beever-Jones’ dead-ball strike hit Australia’s wall but immediately got the ball back from quick-thinking teammate Lucy Bronze before unleashing a first-time strike that was too good for Matildas goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold.
The Lionesses continued to attack, making the most of their numerical advantage by doubling their lead in the 41st minute right-back Bronze.
Having worked her way into Australia’s penalty area, Bronze slid the ball home past Arnold after being found unmarked by a pass from teammate Ella Toone.
The Lionesses were again dominant in the second-half, with the Matildas needing a solid save from goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold to deny substitute Georgia Stanway in the 72nd minute.
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However, Stanway did get the better of Arnold with a stoppage-time penalty after a foul from Matildas midfielder Katrina Gorry gave England the chance to increase its lead.
The only low point of the match for the Lionesses was teenage substitute Michelle Agyemang being stretchered off in the second-half with what seemed to be a serious knee injury.
Re-live the action in our live blog below.
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