Injury-time van Egmond strike saves Matildas from hard road to Tokyo 2020

An injury-time strike from Emily van Egmond has spared the Matildas from a nightmare road to the Tokyo Olympics, salvaging a 1-1 draw with China in a thrilling clash at Bankwest Stadium on Thursday night.

It looked for all money as if China would finish top of their Olympic qualifying group after an 86th-minute strike from Tang Jiali gave them a richly deserved lead.

But a desperate late rally from Australia produced a miraculous leveller in the 93rd minute, when a calm and composed Kyah Simon found van Egmond outside the penalty box. Van Egmond then unleashed a terrific strike through a scramble of bodies and into the back of the net.

It means the Matildas have booked a two-legged play-off date with Vietnam next month, with the winner to seal a berth at Tokyo 2020. China, on the other hand, will face a much tougher task against South Korea – the avenue Australia were desperate to avoid.

The finish was euphoric for Ante Milicic's side but the draw shouldn't mask the serious tactical deficiencies which China brutally exposed.

The Steel Roses came out with a clear plan to disrupt Australia's ability to play out from defence, and it worked a treat. A full-strength Matildas side – led by skipper Sam Kerr, who made her first start of the tournament – never looked comfortable in possession and failed to replicate the free-flowing attacks that characterised their big wins over Taiwan and Thailand.

It was brilliant, brawny stuff from a team that not only left some of their best players back in China, but spent their first week in Australia holed up in a hotel, unable to leave due to coronavirus concerns.

Milicic admitted the Matildas had to learn from the experience.

"We came up against a team that was very well-drilled, very organised, very disciplined. We didn't have the solutions quick enough or often enough," he said. "The times that we did, we looked good. In the end, you can see the Chinese women's team is a side that has been invested in and well-prepared and a difficult opponent but I must say, I can't fault the effort from my girls. They kept on believing, kept on going and I'm delighted that we got the equaliser.

"We have to learn from this. We'll review this, and as soon as we do we'll move forward and put our focus to Vietnam."

The Matildas celebrate after Emily van Egmond's equaliser against China on Thursday night.Credit: AAP

China will rue their profligacy in front of goal, having spurned a series of golden chances late in the first half and scattered throughout the second, almost all of them generated by their own incessant pressure.

Vietnam could do worse than to steal the blueprint laid out for them by China coach Jia Xiuquan, whose tactics suffocated the life out of Australia. Milicic needs to quickly find a way around such an approach, because if the Vietnamese don't replicate it, one of their opponents in Tokyo surely will.

"We know that Australia has excellent strikers, but we tried our best to seize their weaknesses in the defensive aspects," Jia said. "Today, it's a bit disappointing that we didn't seize the last opportunity to get a win."

From the outset, it was clear this match possessed a certain tension the others before it lacked, with China's intelligent approach leading to plenty of half-scares and nervy moments for the hosts as they struggled to adjust.

Still, the best early chances all fell to the Matildas, and after the first 30 minutes, Milicic's side appeared to have settled into a rhythm, albeit not a particularly smooth one.

In response, China fired off a series bullets that Australia only narrowly dodged. Failure to clear the ball from a corner nearly led to disaster for the Matildas in the 34th minute, with a ricocheted ball nearly find its way into the back of the net.

Moments later, another back-half turnover from Elise Kellond-Knight should have led to a goal for China, who released Wang Shanshan clear on goal with no Australian defenders near her. Offside was called – incorrectly, as replays showed.

Shanshan let rip with another warning shot just before the break, with a long-range strike that nearly snuck into Lydia Williams' goal in the top-left corner, but clipped the woodwork and went out. There were many more close shaves to come, but somehow the Matildas wriggled their way out of a tough road to Tokyo.