Key events
FT: USWNT 2-1 Australia
The USWNT make it two wins from two in the SheBelieves Cup, running out 2-1 winners over Australia with a professional display.
Opening the scoring through Biyendolo after less than a minute, it looked like Hayes’ side might have been able to name their margin as they dominated the opening exchanges and while that control may have faded as the game wore on, they never really looked like they were in danger. Cooper’s first-ever international goal doubled their advantage in the 68th minute and it took some super goalkeeping from Micah to deny them a third in the dying stages.
Australia were second best – outshot 15 to seven – against a rotated USWNT side and didn’t exactly create a multitude of clear-cut chances or prove able to keep possession for extended periods but, nonetheless, will take heart from a much improved performance after their hammering against Japan in their opening game.
It would have been very easy for the Matildas, coming off a 4-0 defeat, to go to pieces after conceding so early and subsequently coming under siege but they were able to hold out, gather and give the world’s number one side a game.
Clearly, this team still desperately needs a full-time coach to be appointed so they can really start to build – Football Australia’s continued delays in that process not doing them any favours – but there’s a foundation there.
90+5 Mins: Australia wins a free kick on the right flank, with almost every player assembling on the edge of the USWNT as Murphy prepares to take it.
The youngster’s delivery can’t beat Fox, however, with her defensive header the game’s final action.
90+3 Mins: The USWNT get the ball forward – Sentnor has proven a real metronome since she came on – but can’t work the ball into the Australian penalty area. Australia eventually win the ball back and look to transition down the left but Torpey can’t find space to exploit.
90+1 Mins: van Egmond whips in a corner but it bounces harmlessly off the top of Prior’s head and away from the American penalty area.
90 Mins: Australia gets out at speed but Torpey doesn’t pull the trigger on a pass for Heyman and the USWNT are able to get bodies back behind the ball.
88 Mins: The USWNT almost put the game to bed twice in quick succesion, only to be denied by two super saves from Micah!
First, Shaw plays the Sentnor in on goal with a smart bass, only for the keeper to stick a strong glove up and deflect the ball out for a corner. The resulting set piece bounces off the legs of Cooper but she’s denied a second of the game when the Liverpool custodian reacts quickly to push it away.
The USWNT are looking more likely to find a third than Australia an equaliser.
81 Mins: More changes for Australia in the aftermath of their goal, Tash Prior coming on for Kennedy and Laini Freier coming on for Cooney-Cross, the latter becoming Matilda number 236.
Goal! USWNT 2-1 Australia (Heyman 80′)
Australia does what they do best, transitioning rapidly after Albert’s attempt, getting the ball down the channel, and hitting paydirt with a ball into the box.
The ball finds Raso on the right flank and, with a bit of time to assess, the Spurs winger whips in a ball and finds an Heyman, who has used her veteran instincts to find an open spot to power in an a header.
79 Mins: Albert’s one and only international goal came against Australia and she almost has another, a corner falling to her open at the back post only for her to send a meek volley at Micah.
77 Mins: A couple of Gooners come off for Australia but they’re replaced by one from the opposite dugout, G Thompson making way for the USWNT and replaced by Arsenal’s Emily Fox.
74 Mins: Two more changes for the Matildas, Emily van Egmond replaces Catley and Kaitlyn Torpey comes on for Foord.
It won’t surprise anyone that regularly watches the Matildas but Foord was once again Australia’s best.
73 Mins: Grant lunges in and brings down Shaw, earning herself a yellow card and giving the USWNT a free kick in a dangerous area.
70 Mins: Hayes again goes to her bench in the aftermath of the goal, as Sam Coffey comes on for Hutton.
Goal! USWNT 2-0 Australia (Cooper 68′)
It’s a first-ever international goal for Cooper in just her second ever appearance! The Matildas can’t clear their lines after denying Shaw’s attempt to cut inside to shoot and they’re made to pay.
Hutton threads in inch-perfect pass through the Matildas’ defensive lines for Sentnor, whose move to cut around Catley sees the ball roll to the feet of Cooper, who makes absolutely no mistake – giving Micah no chance as she buried an attempt into the bottom corner.
Looking at overarching possession and shot counts it can’t be said to be an injustice but the Matildas will nonetheless be disappointed: they’d done a good job working their way back into the game after around the half-hour mark but have shipped a goal on the host’s first real attack of the second stanza.
64 Mins: Two changes for the Australians, Michelle Heyman replaces McNamara and Alana Murphy replaces Fowler.
Making her first start since returning from her third ACL injury, the Matildas’ limited possession meant that McNamara didn’t have a lot of service but she nonetheless showed enough flashes to suggest she has a long-term future as an international nine. European and NWSL sides could do a lot, lot, lot worse than having an extended look at the Melbourne City attacker.
Melbourne Victory youngster Murphy, meanwhile, becomes Matilda number 235 as she comes on for her international debut.
61 Mins: There’s movement of both benches as we move past the hour mark in Glendale. And crikey, it looks like there’s going to be a few changes for both.
Tara McKeown, Michelle Cooper, Yazmeen Ryan, and Ally Sentnor all enter the contest, replacing Dunn, Sears, A Thompson, and Biyendolo.
58 Mins: Given a reprieve, the Australians look to respond through Raso on the right but after doing well to find the space to cross her delivery is blocked away.
57 Mins: A hospital ball from Heatley almost gifts Biyendolo her second, the striker nipping in to steal the ball away before an attempted back pass can reach Micah and shooting into the side netting.
56 Mins: The USWNT continue to maintain possessional dominance over the Australians – leading that stat 64% to 36% – but they haven’t been able to turn this control into clear chances for a while.
54 Mins: G Thompson and A Thompson combine, with the Australian commentator calling them Thompson and Thompson. Tintin would be proud.
53 Mins: The Matildas’ pre-game analysis has obviously picked out the back post as the spot to target on corners – Catley swinging in another set piece to that area looking for Kennedy and the hosts forced to scramble it away.
51 Mins: No changes at the halftime break for either the USWNT or Matildas.
50 Mins: The USWNT faff about trying to play out from the back and McNamara almost makes them pay, bursting forward and almost stealing the ball off a scrambling McGlynn!
48 Mins: After getting checked out for any signs of concussion, Grant re-enters the fray as play resumes.
46 Mins: We’re back underway in Arizona!
Aaaaaaaaand immediately we have a big collision and a stoppage: Grant remaining down on the turf after being cleaned up off the ball by Shaw (looked unintentional) and requiring treatment.
Or maybe there’s something about playing the Matildas that gets the USWNT fired up straight from the opening kickoff, given that they scored after just 24 seconds in a 2021 meeting between the two.
Perhaps there’s something in the water in Arizona, given that Biyendolo’s strike after 42 seconds wasn’t even the fastest goal we’ve seen today: Momoko Tanikawa opening the scoring for Japan after just 18 seconds in their 4-1 win over Colombia.
Strewth.
42 – Lynn Biyendolo’s goal after 42 seconds against Australia was the fastest scored by a #USWNT player (excluding own goals) since Ashley Hatch scored after 24 seconds, also against Australia, in November 2021. Crikey. pic.twitter.com/cnv3emQ8Kt
— OptaJack⚽️ (@OptaJack) February 23, 2025
HT: USWNT 1-0 Australia
The USWNT couldn’t have asked for a better start to the game when Biyendolo fired them ahead after only 45 seconds and they would have been good value for a second or a third in the subsequent exchanges – Hayes’ rotated side looking lethal every time they were able to get out in space and get Biyendolo, Shaw, A Thompson, and Sears running at their opponents.
Fortunately for the Australians, however, they were able to avoid a two-goal deficit and finished the second-half strongly after clamping down on the American’s opportunities to get out in space. Foord, again, has been a leading light for Matildas, while Grant and McNamara have showed flashes.
45+1 Mins: A ball over the top for Biyendolo springs her into space but she’s forced wide as she goes to claim and by the time she has support, Australia have bodies behind the ball.
44 Mins: The USWNT threaten to bring the Matildas undone in transition again, moving the ball out of their half in a flash and setting up A Thompson to send in a cross that Kennedy deflects away.
43 Mins: The Matildas emergence into the game has coincided with them shifting the territorial battle. The USWNT’s press was giving them fits and producing several high turnovers but the pendulum has swung in the midfield and now most of the action is taking place away from the Australian penalty area, preventing the hosts from pinning their ears back.
41 Mins: Another corner to the back post, this time from Cooney-Cross on the right, finds the boot of Raso, with the Spurs winger unable to thread the needle from an acute angle with her volleyed attempt.
The Matildas are ending the half well, Foord bringing the ball down atop the box and shooting wide.
40 Mins: Foord shows good strength in the middle of the park before playing Grant into space down the left. She looks to find McNamara’s run in the middle but the USWNT get into the road.
39 Mins: McNamara makes a run that drags defenders centrally, allowing Cooney-Cross to lace a cross-field ball for Raso on the right. The Australians again get the ball into the area and while it was hardly threatening enough to give American fans much pause, it did at least end in another shot – Cooney-Cross firing well wide from the top of the box.
38 Mins: The Australians are having their best stretch of the game, Carpenter whipping the ball into the box and the USWNT forced to scramble it clear moments before McNamara can pounce.
35 Mins: Kennedy’s effort was Australia’s first shot of the game, that stat now reading USA six (three on target) to the Matildas one. Given that it came in the first half, with the score only 1-0, however, that’s a marked improvement over the Japan game.
34 Mins: The Australians remind the Americans that they’re there, a turnover ending with Grant whipping a threatening ball towards the back post that McGlynn just gets a touch to before Raso can meet it with a free header.
The resulting corner again sees Catley find Kennedy at the back post, with the resulting effort going over the bar.
33 Mins: She hasn’t had a lot of service but McNamara does look the part of a nine at this level, her latest flash seeing her put both American central defenders under duress as they look to sweep up a long ball before Sams eventuall claims.
31 Mins: Catley whips in a corner from the right-hand side that McGlynn flaps at. It lands on the head of Kennedy and goes back to the top of the box, with Fowler, all eyes on the ball, subsequently flattening A Thompson and the USWNT winning a free kick.
Article by:Source: Joey Lynch
