England Women vs Australia Matildas result, highlights as Sam Kerr ends Lionesses' unbeaten run

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Dan Gibbs
• 11 min read
Sam Kerr
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Just four days after England were crowned Finalissima champions, the Lionesses suffered their first defeat under Sarina Wiegman.

Goals from Sam Kerr and Charlotte Grant proved decisive in putting an end to England's 30-match unbeaten streak in what is expected to be their last match before the World Cup gets underway.

England's triumph over Brazil on penalties at Wembley last week seemed to result in sluggish play throughout large parts of today's match that resulted in letting Australia dictate the game with the co-hosts keen to bounce back from a 1-0 defeat to Scotland on Friday.

Unsurprisingly, it was Kerr who opened the scoring for Australia on 32 minutes as she capitalised on Leah Williamson's poor headed back pass to Mary Earps and nipped in to loft the ball over the goalkeeper.

England had chances throughout, most notably through Alessia Russo and substitute Rachel Daly.

But the visitors scored again through more brilliance from Kerr in the second half, this time providing the inviting cross into the back post for Grant to head past Earps courtesy of a deflection off Williamson.

With 100 days to go until the World Cup officially kicks off in New Zealand, there are plenty of positives to take for England and Australia from this match with the added excitement that the pair will be on course to meet one another in the last-16.

The Sporting News was following the England vs. Australia match live and providing live score updates, commentary below.

MORE: England Women's World Cup fixtures 2023: Dates, times for Lionesses group matches

Confirmed lineups: 

England starting lineup (4-3-3): Earps (GK) — Bronze, Williamson, Morgan, Carter (83' Park) — Stanway, Walsh, Toone (59' Daly) — Hemp (27' James), Russo, Kelly.

Australia starting lineup (4-4-2): Arnold (GK) — Carpenter, Hunt, Polkinghorne, Grant — Raso, Gorry, Cooney-Cross, Yallop (38' Vine, 95' Wheeler) — Fowler, Kerr.

England Women vs Matildas final score

  1H 2H Final
England  0 0 0
Australia  1 1 2

Goals:
AUS — Kerr (32nd min)

AUS — Grant (67th min)

England Women vs Matildas live updates, highlights from friendly

FULL-TIME: England Women 0-2 Matildas

England's 30-match unbeaten streak comes to an end courtesy of a fine performance from Australia with Kerr and Grant grabbing the goals.

90th min+3: Stanway hits a fierce shot on the half-volley from the edge of the box but it goes wide. It's not going to be for England tonight.

Kerr and Raso go off for Chidaic and Nevin.

90th min+1: Arnold is booked for time wasting from the goal-kick.

89th min: Park gets down the left and cuts it back to Russo but her shot is blocked. Raso is booked for a late challenge on Kelly.

85th min: A change for Australia too as Wheeler is on for injured Vine.

83rd min: Another sub for England as Carter comes off for Park.

81st min: Australia are passing it around England with relative ease now with the Lionesses looking a little sluggish.

75th min: Into the final quarter of an hour and England need a goal soon if they are to stand any chance of keeping their unbeaten record under Wiegman in tact.

73rd min: Big chance for England as Daly is unmarked in the six-yard box but can't direct her header on target!

67th min: GOAL! England Women 0-2 Matildas

Grant heads home at the back post from a superb Kerr cross and a big deflection off Williamson sees the ball fly past Earps. That's her first goal for her country and it's come against the European champions!

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Watch in US & AUS:

64th min: England can count themselves lucky Australia have had a few sloppy passes at the final key moment when running through on goal. England have been getting forward but at the other end Kerr still looks hungry to add to her tally tonight.

60th min: Toone is off for Daly as Wiegman adds another striker to the team.

59th min: James drills in a low shot from the left side of the box which forces a fine save from Arnold down to her left but the rebound doesn't fall to any of England's strikers arriving at the back post.

55th min: James puts in a dangerous cross in the hope Russo connects but Hunt is the one who meets the ball first and almost turns it into her own net! She breathes a sigh of relief as it strikes the side netting instead.

53rd min: Sloppy defending at the back from England gives Australia's attack another gift but some neat passing eventually breaks down.

50th min: Vine plays a stunning through ball into Kerr, who has time to cut back inside the defender, but instead of shooting with her left she toe-pokes the shot with the outside of her right boot and it goes wide.

We're back underway!

HALF-TIME: England Women 0-1 Matildas

45th min+1: Great individual brilliance from James who comes in from the left and evades a couple of chances but her shot is wild and sails over the bar.

43rd min: A little slower pace from England now and passing of the ball is so slow that the speed of Australia almost catches them out as Kerr pounces on a loose ball, but Earps is quickly off her line to clear.

38th min: It doesn't look like Yallop can continue. Vine is being readied to come on.

36th min: Wiegman will be pleased with how England have responded as they continue to drive the ball forward. 

Yallop is down receiving treatment after a tackle on Kelly. 

32nd min: GOAL! England Women 0-1 Matildas

Kerr opens the scoring for the visitors! A long ball over the top sees Williamson attempt to head the ball back to Earps but Kerr nips in and lofts the ball over the keeper!

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Watch in US & AUS:

29th min: Russo attempts a bicycle kick from close range but doesn't quite connect with the cross and the ball goes wide of the post.

24th min: It looks like Hemp is going to have to go off here. She's wearing a protective mask on her face after hurting her nose in the Brazil match and looks to be having some issues with it. James will be coming on.

18th min: Stanway does brilliantly down the right to get in behind Grant but the final pass into Russo is poor and Australia blocks.

13th min: Hemp shows some neat footwork in the box to carve out a chance for Russo but Australia clear their lines.

11th min: Walsh plays a dangerous ball across the back line that is intercepted by Raso. She has time to set herself up with a shot from 15 yards out from the right side of the goal but takes too long and her shot is blocked. A let-off for Walsh there.

8th min: Raso has looked exciting down the right wing for Australia so far and is keen to pick out Kerr in the box but her cross is blocked by Carter.

4th min: Hemp does well down the left flank to put in a low cross and the lively Russo gets ahead of the defender to get a first-time shot on target but it's easily dealt with by Arnold.

We're underway!

5 mins from kickoff: The teams make their way out to a packed Gtech Community Stadium, the home of Premier League side Brentford. It's absolutely chucking it down in west London. 100 days from now when the World Cup kicks off, Australia will be hoping for drier and warmer conditions!

You'll also notice that three players on each team don't have their names on the back of their shirt. That's to highlight that one in three people in the UK will be diagnosed with dementia with today's match dedicated to raising awareness of the cruel disease.

30 mins from kickoff: While this match is billed as a "friendly," both teams will be well aware they could meet each other in the last-16 of the World Cup later this year and it's a chance to get some insight. However, Wiegman insists that won't stop her from holding back any of her tactics.

"No - we are aware it could happen in the World Cup but this is now," said Wiegman. "We want to improve and we're looking at ourselves.

"We have some more games in between — if it does happen — meeting them in the World Cup. We don't think that much ahead."

60 mins from kickoff: The teams are in!

90 mins from kickoff: Wiegman's side are hoping to go 31 games unbeaten by avoiding defeat this evening. They'll fancy their chances after seeing Scotland beat Australia last week but Wiegman isn't getting ahead of herself.

"Australia have had some very good results. The game against Scotland doesn’t really represent what they have done over the last few months," she said.

"They are very physical and very direct. It is a little different to what Brazil did but still very challenging."

120 mins from kickoff: Hello, and welcome to The Sporting News' live coverage of tonight's friendly match between England and Australia. It's been a while since these two nations met each other...

England Women vs Matildas lineups

Millie Bright and Sandy MacIver remain unavailable after pulling out of the squad ahead of last Thursday's Finalissima. Since then, Alex Greenwood has also withdrawn after picking up an injury against Brazil.

Penalty hero Chloe Kelly is handed a start while Rachel Daly and Lotte Wubben-Moy settle for spots on the bench.

England starting lineup (4-3-3): Earps (GK) — Bronze, Williamson, Morgan, Carter — Stanway, Walsh, Toone — Hemp, Russo, Kelly.

England subs (12): Roebuck, Hampton, Le Tissier, Wubben-Moy, Charles, Nobbs, James, Coombs, Daly, Park, Robinson, Parker.

Australia's all-time leading goalscorer Sam Kerr leads the line after she was rested in the defeat to Scotland.

Emily van Egmond and Holly McNamara have both withdrawn from the squad ahead of Tuesday's friendly. Remy Siemsen has been called up as one replacement.

Australia starting lineup (4-4-2): Arnold (GK) — Carpenter, Hunt, Polkinghorne, Grant — Raso, Gorry, Cooney-Cross, Yallop — Fowler, Kerr

Australia subs (12): Williams, Micah, Whyman, Nevin, Luik, Vine, Crummer, Wheeler, Chidiac, Siemsen, Sayer, McNamara. 

MORE: FIFA Women's World Cup 2023: Which teams have qualified for the tournament?

England Women vs Matildas live stream, TV channel

  TV channel Streaming
Australia 10 10 Play, Paramount+
Canada — —
Hong Kong — —
India — —
Malaysia — —
New Zealand — —
Singapore — —
UK ITV4 ITVX
USA — —
Author(s)
Author Photo
Dan Gibbs
Dan is a sub-editor for The Sporting News' UK edition.
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