Welcome to the House of Kerr. Three games. Three goals. Three wins. As if there was any doubt for the superstar born in the Western Australian capital, but Perth is officially Sam Kerr territory.
As they did four days prior against DPR Korea just across the Swan River at the Perth Rectangular Stadium, Australia at times had to suffer for the result against a side that pried, prodded and really challenged the Australian defence.
But it was Kerr’s strike 12 minutes into the second half that proved to be the difference, with the Chelsea striker taking the ball past Peng Shimeng before sliding it home from a narrow angle to the delight of the 35,170 in attendance at Perth Stadium.
Both of Australia’s goals came courtesy of brilliantly worked team moves, capitalising on space left in behind by a Chinese side that pressed up high looking to force Australia into turning the ball over.
It was a risk-versus-reward strategy from Ante Milicic, who has an intimate knowledge of this Matildas side from his time in charge, and while they were made to pay by the precision of an Australian counterattack after 17 minutes, it was a strategy that ultimately served them well throughout the first half.
Making two changes from the side that defeated DPR Korea last week, bringing in Steph Catley into the heart of defence and Kyra Cooney-Cross into midfield, the moves at times looked to have unsettled Joe Montemurro’s side.
The normally unflappable Clare Hunt was was looking anything but, and while when they got in behind Australia looked dangerous, more often than not it was China playing on the front foot and it was from one of those pressing moments that they forced a mistake from Hunt, Zhang Linpeng pouncing to draw a penalty from Mackenzie Arnold from which she was able to draw China level.
By half-time China had almost double the final third entries to Australia, despite having less than 40 percent possession and significantly fewer passes.
The early stages of the second half saw China reassert their control of the game until the pivotal moment of the game. With a ball to be won in midfield, Kaitlyn Torpey lunged to win the ball into the path of Kerr who turned and played the ball into the path of Caitlin Foord storming down the left. From there, the Arsenal midfielder played an inch perfect ball into Kerr’s path and the rest is history.
It was a moment that sparked the home crowd into life, and while they weren’t able to add to the scoreboard, having the lead gave them a new lease of life, taking more control of the game and while China threw everything at the final few minutes, by that stage Australia was set and they were unable to put any serious threat on Australia’s goal.
WHAT WE LEARNED
Foord remains a lethal threat: While the headlines and accolades will go the way of Sam Kerr, a special shoutout for her partner in crime, Caitlin Foord, who saved her best performance of the tournament for the biggest occasion. It wasn’t just her goal, but her work on the ball and her threat on the counter. At her best she is close to Australia’s best, and that is saying something with this team. Does she have another big performance in her on Saturday night?
Torpey takes her moment: With Steph Catley sidelined against DPR Korea, Joe Montemurro turned to Newcastle United fullback Kaitlyn Torpey, who turned in close to a Man of the Match performance. With Catley assigned centrally, Torpey kept her spot and again was superb down Australia’s left. From what proved to be the match winning lunge in the middle of the pitch or her resolute defence, she didn’t miss a beat.
WHAT THEY SAID
Joe Montemurro – Australia coach: “Second half was better, but first half it was really disappointing because we scored a really good goal and I thought OK we’re starting to find our rhythm and we just backed off and we went very very deep again. We just need to play higher and need to be braver. But it’s tournament football and we got the result we wanted.
“There’s a resilience that we have in our psyche. But if we ask the football question, it wasn’t from us in the first half especially, second half we found a few opportunities but we’re going to have to be better.
“Caitlin (Foord) is a world class player, that’s why I brought her to Arsenal. She’s smart and when she’s on song I think she’s one of the best in the world, and today it was coming you can see it was developing over the tournament and deserved the goal she scored in the first half.”
Katrina Gorry – Australia: “I’m really proud. It wasn’t our prettiest game, we fought to the end, it’s a never say die attitude, we always bring it, we believe in each other. We got the win in the end and through to the Final.
“Through tournament football we’ve had some really good periods, some disappointing periods and you grab onto those moments, you learn from them and I think we’ve learned a lot from the last four years.
“I think when you reflect on that in dying moments, you think of the heartbreak and you just push through and find a way, and that’s what we’ve done in the last couple of games.”
WHAT COMES NEXT
Australia must now make the four-hour trek back across the country to Sydney, where they will face the winner of tomorrow night’s semi-final between Japan and Korea Republic in the Final. Importantly, however, even with the travel, they will have 24 hours extra rest than their opponents.
