Matildas snatch draw with USA at the death after defensive woes exposed again

The Matildas again fell behind early to the USA, but snatched a draw in the dying minutes to rebound from a disappointing 3-0 defeat.

Kyah Simon earned the Matildas a draw against the heavyweight USA on Tuesday night.

Kyah Simon restored some pride for the Matildas with a last-gasp equaliser against the USA in front of over 20,000 fans at Newcastle’s McDonald Jones Stadium.

The veteran striker’s deflected 88th-minute goal cancelled out Ashley Hatch’s fourth-minute strike, which saw the Matildas needing to overcome another nightmare start against the world champions.

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Simon, who missed a sitter on Saturday, redeemed herself with her 27th international goal and first since February 2020, but Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson praised Clare Wheeler for her part in it.

“The key to that goal is Clare Wheeler’s tackle,” Gustavsson said. “We said we need to be more physical, win our one-on-one duels, and Clare was the game-changer that came on with that mindset and got that tackle.”

The 1-1 result followed Saturday’s 3-0 defeat in Sydney, which means the Matildas have still won just three of Tony Gustavsson’s 16 matches in charge. The Matildas’ coach had said he was treating the friendly series as a dress rehearsal for the 2023 World Cup on home turf, but it was also the final rehearsal ahead of January’s Asian Cup.

87th min MAGIC @KyahSimon#GoMatildas

— kelly fuller (@kelfuller) November 30, 2021

Kyah Simon scored a late equaliser for the Matildas against the USA. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Gustavsson again tinkered with his defence against the world champions and question marks remain, but teenager Courtney Nevin looked far more composed alongside Steph Catley.

“I’m not going to put any pressure on her at all, but I think we all saw that Courtney Nevin had her international breakthrough tonight,” Gustavsson said. “She was just phenomenal.”

For the second time in three days the US took the lead through Hatch. On Saturday it took her just 24 seconds, in Newcastle there wwas just under four minutes on the clock when the Matildas again found themselves chasing the game early.

There was no one tracking back when Margaret Purce made her run in behind, before she cut the ball back into the path of Hatch.

Despite how early the goal game, it had been coming and it left the Matildas unsettled.

Their defence was stretched too often and in the 15th minute Hatch could have doubled the visitor’s lead, only for her header to land safely in the hands of Lydia Williams.

The closest the home side came to getting on the scoresheet in the first half was when Kyra Cooney-Cross’ volley from outside of the box was pushed onto the post by US keeper Casey Murphy.

Ashley Hatch got the Americans off to a flying start with an early goal. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Ellie Carpenter and Hayley Raso, who returned from injury, were energetic down the right flank, while Mary Fowler again linked up well with Sam Kerr despite neither being able to convert their chances.

There was some concern for Catley after a nasty head clash with Purce, but the experienced defender managed to continue — though her club Arsenal may not have cheered with the FA Cup Final coming up on the weekend. Another concern for the English club was the absence of forward Caitlin Foord with a slight groin niggle.

A chance opened up for Kerr just after the break, but the star striker dragged her shot wide. The Matildas enjoyed a period of possession, before Williams was called into action on the hour mark with a terrific, fingertip save to keep out her namesake Lynn Williams.

The US had opportunities to extend their lead, but they weren’t quite as clinical as they were in the first match of the series in Sydney.

In the end, the Matildas did well to just concede the one goal, with the US rightfully denied at the death by the offside flag.

Originally published as Matildas snatch draw with USA at the death after defensive woes exposed again