In the final match of Group B, the USWNT win a 1-2 victory over the Commbank Matildas and advance to the quarterfinals.
Going into tonight’s game, both Tony Gustavsson and Emma Hayes made only one change each.
Emily van Egmond started as a substitute while rookie, Kaitlyn Torpey made her way onto the starting line-up for Australia.
For the US, a forced change meant that Tierna Davidson was out on injury for the group stage finale, while Emily Sonnett stepped in.
Line-ups
Australia: 1 Mackenzie Arnold, 3 Kaitlyn Torpey, 6 Katrina Gorry, 7 Steph Catley, 8 Kyra Cooney-Cross, 9 Caitlin Foord, 11 Mary Fowler, 12 Ellie Carpenter, 14 Alanna Kennedy, 15 Clare Hunt, 16 Hayley Raso.
USA: 1 Alyssa Naeher, 2 Emily Fox, 4 Naomi Girma, 5 Trinity Rodman, 7 Crystal Dunn, 9 Mallory Swanson, 10 Lindsey Horan, 11 Sophia Smith, 14 Emily Sonnett, 16 Rose Lavelle, 17 Sam Coffey.
First Half
At the last Olympics in Tokyo, these two sides battled it out for the bronze medal spot, with the US pipping the Matildas to the post, winning 3-4.
It seems the Matildas were beaten to it again, despite kicking things off to a slightly better start than their match against Zambia, where Barbra Banda scored 40 seconds in.
A yellow card shown to Sam Coffey after just four minutes now means that she will miss the quarterfinal for her foul on Katrina Gorry.
The US frontline were looking threatening, with all three of them featuring on the scoresheets of the previous games in the competition, and their form was showing.
The first half was mostly one-way traffic towards Australia goalkeeper, Mackenzie Arnold who had to pull off momentous saves to keep the Tillies in it.
The Australian defence worked well, keeping the American side at bay longer than either Germany or Zambia had done.
The Matildas, while not holding the majority of possession, made a couple of key breaks which looked to be strong attempts at goal, but Mary Fowler’s attempts went wide.
Trinity Rodman broke the deadlock with a goal just before half-time.
From a corner, Sophia Smith’s header found Rodman’s boot in the 43rd minute and despite a long outcry from Gustavsson which earnt him a booking, and a VAR check, the goal was given.
Second Half
As the second half kicked off in Marseille, Gustavsson made two substitutions, Gorry coming off for Emily van Egmond and Torpey making way for Michelle Heyman.
Hayes took off Emily Sonnett, Emily Fox and Trinity Rodman in the 66th minute, with the game becoming more end to end.
Casey Krueger, Lynn Williams and Korbin Albert stepped onto the field in their place, the latter of which was booked just a minute later for a foul on Caitlin Foord.
A shot from distance by Albert turned out to be the decider, however, the midfielder rocketing the ball into the top left corner in the 77th minute.
This was her first ever goal for the USWNT and it took them to the top of Group B.
There was a close call from Smith, who rattled both posts before the ball bounced away from danger for the Tillies and they were ready to close the gap.
Heyman won a header against Jenna Nighswonger during injury time and Alanna Kennedy’s tap towards the back of the net won the Matildas their consolation goal.
The game was finished with the goal at 90+2’, with full time being called just five minutes later.
This match ensured that the US topped Group B and won their place in the quarterfinals.
Australia must now hope to be one of the two best third place teams in order to advance in the tournament.
Featured image courtesy of Erik Drost via Flickr. No changes were made to this image. License details found here.
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