Women’s internationals: Kerr stars as Australia end Lionesses unbeaten run
From the official Chelsea FC website:
We take a look at the final round of international fixtures involving Chelsea Women on Tuesday, including Australia’s victory over England and a six-goal thriller between Sweden and Norway.
Sam Kerr captained Australia as the Matildas ended the Lionesses 30-match unbeaten run with a 2-0 victory at Brentford’s Gtech Community Stadium. The Chelsea striker opened the scoring on 32 minutes, pouncing on a loose back pass and finishing with aplomb from close range.
Jess Carter started for Sarina Wiegman’s side while Lauren James was introduced as a first-half substitute. However, they were unable to prevent their Blues team-mate from teeing up Australia’s second of the night to secure a morale-boosting victory ahead of hosting this summer’s World Cup.
Sweden and Norway produced an enthralling 3-3 draw with several Blues involved as the teams met in Gothenburg for their final fixture of this international break. The Swedes netted what they thought was a 91st-minute winner only for Norway to snatch a 96th-minute equaliser in a dramatic finale.
Guro Reiten and Maren Mjelde began the game for Norway. Magdalena Eriksson was in from the start for Sweden, while Johanna Rytting Kaneryd came off the bench as the teams produced a thrilling spectacle.
Ann-Katrin Berger was between the sticks as Germany fell to a narrow 2-1 defeat against Brazil, whom England overcame on penalties in last Thursday’s Finalissima. Melanie Leupolz came off the bench for the Germans having been called up for the first time since returning from giving birth.
Herve Renard made it back-to-back victories since taking charge of France who recorded a 2-1 victory over Canada on home soil. Eve Perisset was among the France substitutes while Jessie Fleming started for the Canadians.
Wales came from a goal down to earn a 1-1 draw against Portugal in Guimaraes. Sophie Ingle captained her side from the start, but was unfortunately dismissed in second-half stoppage time for picking up a second yellow card.
Our Blues will return to Cobham on Friday and begin preparations for the Vitality Women’s FA Cup semi-final visit to Aston Villa on Sunday, with kick-off at 2.15pm (UK time) at the Poundland Bescot Stadium. The match will also be broadcast live on the BBC.
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