Australia 1-1 China
from Emma Burke at Adelaide Oval for Impetus (31/5/24).
Above: The Matildas celebrate after Michelle Heyman’s last gasp equaliser, five minutes into stoppage time against China in Adelaide today. Photo: Football Australia.
A goal in the final minute of stoppage time from striker Michelle Heyman has secured a 1-1 draw for Australia against China in front of a sold-out Adelaide crowd of just under 53,000.
While a new-look line-up, erring largely on the last chance saloon for Olympics selection, and a different formation, the Matildas held the majority of possession throughout the first half.
Defensively the home side were not quite where they wanted to be, and at times in offensive areas, the ball didn’t stick or find its intended target. In the cut-throat nature of international football, not making the most of possession comes back to haunt you, and China were able to break through the deadlock in the 30th minute through Linyan Zhang who took advantage of some outstanding work by Central Coast Mariners’ star Wurigumula – who was fantastic throughout.
Mary Fowler and Heyman were largely kept well marshalled by the deep-lying Chinese defence, with Fowler really only having one eye-catching moment in the opening half when she played a gloriously weighted pass through. That though would change as the game went on.
Cortnee Vine was also ushered towards the touchline and byline by the visitors as part of a well-executed strategy by their head coach Ante Milicic, who knows so many of the Matildas team so well from his past roles with the Australian national team at both senior and age group level.
A quintuple substitution not long into the second half signaled an end to the experimental period with Steph Catley, Hayley Raso, Kyra Cooney-Cross, Ellie Carpenter, and Caitlin Foord all coming into the game and immediately looked to make an impact.
Unfortunately, Foord would last only 15 minutes, going down with a potential hamstring injury, and was replaced by Sharn Frier.
Chances came for the Matildas, but they were unable to find the key final moment to convert the opportunity as the final ball never quite seemed to end up where it should have.
Finally, a free kick awarded five minutes into stoppage time, set just wide of the box on the left hand side was taken by Mary Fowler. Her powerful delivery bounced off Chinese keeper Huan Xu and came off perfectly for Michelle Heyman to poke the ball into the back of the netting.
The two teams now re-group with the second game of this Farewell Series being held on Monday night in Sydney at a sold-out Accor Stadium, scene of the Matildas’ World Cup semi-final with England.
Teams: AUSTRALIA (4-4-3): Arnold, Vine, Wheeler, Torpey, Van Egmond, Fowler, Yallop, Kennedy, Hunt, Grant, Heyman. Substitutes: Williams, Whyman, Nevin, Polkinghorne, Catley, Foord, Raso, Carpenter, Cooney-Cross, Freier, Heatley
Scorer: Heyman 90+5’.
CHINA (4-2-3-1): Xu, Li, Chen, Dou, Wu, S. Wang, Y. Wang, L. Zhang, R. Zhang, Gao, Wurigumula Substitutes: Peng, C. Liu, C. Shen, Yuan, J. Liu, Wu, M. Shen, Zhao, Y. Liu, Yang.
Scorers: L. Zhang 30’.
Attendance: 52,912.
Follow Impetus on social media –
Twitter (X): @impetusfootball TikTok: @impetusfootball
Facebook: @impetuswomensfootball Instagram: @impetusfootball
impetusfootball.org 