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Canada celebrate Adriana Leon's goal (Photo: Canada Soccer by Daniela Porcelli)
Match Analysis: Australia 0-1 CanWNT
2022-09-03
by
Benedict Rhodes, CanPL.ca Contributor (@BTFR17)
News

Final Score: Australia 0-1 Canada
Goalscorers: Leon 11′
International Friendly

Match Recap

Canada put in a very strong all-around performance in Brisbane, Australia on Saturday, beating the Matildas 1-0 in the first of two friendlies in the 2023 Women’s World Cup joint-host nation. With a loud, passionate set of fans in attendance, and both teams playing with a lot of intensity, it felt like more than a friendly at times as the World Cup fever starts to kick in.

Les Rouges knew they would be in for a tough challenge against the great Sam Kerr, Chelsea superstar and Australia’s record goalscorer, and she tested Kailen Sheridan twice just five minutes into the match. Three minutes in, a header with her back to goal forced a fantastic diving stop from the Canadian goalkeeper, and Kerr again put the ball on target with a shot from distance a few moments later, but the second effort didn’t have enough power to give Sheridan any trouble.

Adriana Leon got the scoring underway in the 11th minute, with a rocket from the edge of the penalty area. She received the ball from Jordyn Huitema and took a touch, before unleashing a perfect shot across goal, beating Lydia Williams into the top corner of the Australian goal.

Kerr was back in the spotlight in the 27th minute, charging at the Canadian goal on a breakaway. Sheridan held her ground, tackling Kerr on the edge of the penalty area, but the danger wasn’t totally cleared away. The ball ended up at the feet of Emily Gielnik, who chipped the ball over Sheridan’s head, but the ball sailed over the bar.

Despite outshooting the Canadians 7-4, that would be Australia’s best chance of the opening half, as Canada took a 1-0 advantage into the break.

Second half substitutes breathed new life into a tiring Canadian side, with debutants Simi Awujo and Clarissa Larisey making immediate impacts in their cameos off the bench. Moments into their debuts they nearly combined for a goal, as a pass through the middle from Awujo found Larisey, who hit the target but was unable to beat Williams.

Still searching for her first international goal, Cloe Lacasse had a chance to put the game to bed in the 85th minute. She ran across the box with the ball before rounding Williams and having a shot at the empty goal, but her effort went high and wide and Canada’s lead remained at one.

In the final seconds of stoppage time Kerr got one last chance to test Sheridan, with a header from a corner, but Sheridan made a fantastic stop to get up and push the ball over the crossbar. Despite continued pressure from the Matildas in front of an electric home crowd, a goal would never come, and Canada held on for the 1-0 victory.

Three Observations

4-2-3-1 formation and debutants promising for Priestman

Bev Priestman shifted her formation around a bit in this match, swapping her preferred 4-3-3 for a 4-2-3-1. The move allowed Christine Sinclair to play as the attacking midfielder in a midfield trio with a striker (Jordyn Huitema) in front of her, rather than losing the striker entirely by having Sinclair drop back into the deep false nine role she had been playing in prior matches.

On either side of Sinclair in midfield were Nichelle Prince and Adriana Leon on the left and right, respectively, with Jessie Fleming and Julia Grosso sitting in behind. That was also a smart idea, as it allowed both of them, especially Fleming, to pick up the ball in deeper positions and dictate play after receiving passes directly from the defenders rather than needing it to go through another midfielder first.

The triangle of Grosso, Fleming and Sinclair looked sharp, in the first half especially before people started to get subbed out in the second half. Questions like “can Sinclair and Huitema both fit into the same starting lineup?” also seemed to be answered, although it was admittedly a small sample size. With Sinclair adapting into a deeper, creative player with the national team, it gives Priestman a fantastic opportunity to change how her team plays, and continue to develop her own tactics.

It was far from perfect, with the defence sometimes lacking a bit of stability to shut down the challenging attacking unit of Sam Kerr (more on her in a moment), Emily van Egmond, Kyra Cooney-Cross and Mary Fowler, among others. That was partly down to the players absent from the squad — Kadeisha Buchanan and Vanessa Gilles, likely Canada’s first-choice centre-back pairing — among them, but Canada did quite well all things considered.

Kailen Sheridan was also fantastic in goal, making several saves to deny the chances Australia did have.

Matildas head coach Tony Gustavsson referenced something that the Liverpool men’s team boss Jürgen Klopp has said in the past — that while his side aren’t the best team in the world, they showed that they have both the players and personnel available to beat the best team in the world. As the reigning Olympic champions, Canada are among the best, and the two teams went toe-to-toe all match long.

“I thought the team did excellent in the grand scheme of things,” offered Priestman after the match. “We changed shape, all the travel, and two days of preparation. Probably the score didn’t reflect the chances we had, and Australia also asked some good questions of our backline. Overall I’m really pleased with what was out there, there was some great play in the first half, some of the best we’ve played.

“It’s the stuff I love about this team, when they’re faced with that level of adversity, they step up and do everything it takes to win.”

Also a bright spot in this match for Bev Priestman, a few players looked sharp coming off the bench, especially two players making their debuts — Clarissa Larisey and Simi Awujo. Both made an immediate impact, creating a scoring opportunity moments after checking into the match. Picking up the ball in midfield, Awujo, a standout for the USC Trojans and Canadian youth national team, played a quick pass forward to Celtic FC Women’s Larisey. Larisey got a shot off, putting it on target, but Lydia Williams was there to make a straightforward catch.

Larisey was very direct, using her pace to get in behind the Australian defenders, and looked very motivated in her 15 minutes off the bench in relief of Adriana Leon. Awujo, who replaced Nichelle Prince, also showed some flashes of brilliance. A few minutes after creating that chance for Larisey, she played in fellow substitute Cloe Lacasse, who will want back her miss as she wasn’t able to hit the target after rounding Williams. Awujo also chipped in defensively with a couple of strong tackles in a very promising debut for the 18-year-old.

“I think both of them brought what they can to the game,” Priestman said. “Clarissa is direct, she’s in behind, and she’s electric really in terms of pace and getting in behind the backline. Simi brought moments of quality, that pass that she played through to Cloe Lacasse was a world-class pass. Simi is only just getting started really, quite raw and new to our system, but she performed well at the U20s I thought, and felt she warranted coming in, and she did excellent as well.

“Both of those players have come in and did exactly what was asked of them.”

Kerr difficult as expected, but Sheridan up to the challenge

Australia are a strong side with good players playing in all of the top leagues around the world, but one player is undoubtedly the focal point — Sam Kerr.

The Chelsea superstar is one of the best players in the world, if not the very best, and is Australia’s record goalscorer. The 28-year-old, who turns 29 next week, was lively throughout the match, and was causing a lot of problems for Canada’s depleted backline in the first half in particular. It seemed like there was a mighty roar from the crowd in Brisbane every time Kerr touched the ball.

Missing Vanessa Gilles, Kadeisha Buchanan, Ashley Lawrence and Jayde Riviere, among others, Canada started a less experienced backline that included Bianca St-Georges and Sura Yekka, making their fourth and sixteenth appearances for Canada, respectively. With the reliable Shelina Zadorsky captaining the side from centre-back, and Janine Beckie making a rare appearance at left back, Canada’s backline was far from incapable, but it was a new-look group playing against some difficult opponents.

Kerr was the focal point for the Matildas as expected, and within five minutes had already forced a pair of saves out of Kailen Sheridan. The first was a sharp header that Sheridan had to dive to push away from danger, followed by a shot from distance that the Canadian goalkeeper stopped comfortably.

She again went one-on-one with Sheridan in the 27th minute, but the Canadian was able to hold her ground and stop the breakaway in its tracks. The ball fell to Emily Gielnik, who couldn’t keep her shot down as she tried to catch Sheridan off her line.

You’ll notice a theme here. Kerr again forced a big stop in the 37th minute, as she sliced through the Canadian backline, and with several players wearing red in pursuit, shot the ball across goal, but Sheridan again was able to get a touch to it, before Janine Beckie was able to clear the ball away from danger.

St-Georges and Yekka in particular were challenged on the right side of Canada’s defence, and both put in strong performances on the afternoon. St-Georges never hesitates to put her body on the line to make a tackle, and dealt well with another pair of Australian threats, Kyra Cooney-Cross and Emily van Egmond, as well.

Kerr looked frustrated as the match went on, unable to find an elusive goal, and often looked up at the sky in disappointment as chances continued to come and go. She would have one last opportunity for a goal in second half stoppage time, heading the ball on target before Kailen Sheridan made another fantastic save to push the ball over the crossbar.

It was a difficult afternoon for her, but she was good in this match and will be hungry for a goal in the rematch on Tuesday.

Adriana Leon reaches goal milestone with winning strike

The winning goal for Canada came on a fantastic shot from Adriana Leon just eleven minutes into the match.

Receiving a pass from Jordyn Huitema at the edge of the penalty area, Leon took a touch and fired the ball into the top left corner. Lydia Williams had no chance of catching up to it, and Leon’s rocket would end up being the winning goal. It was the 25th of her international career, moving her into 7th all-time for Canada.

She is also now just two back of the great Melissa Tancredi for sixth place as well.

Leon put in a strong 75-minute shift in Saturday’s contest, making some piercing runs down the right flank, and winning several fouls. Often, it seemed, Australia’s preferred option was just to foul her rather than try to tackle her.

“Her quality always shines through,” said Priestman of her goalscorer Leon. “She scores goals, and when you have a player like that with that level of quality, it only adds confidence to you as a coach to see what they can do. Dri going to Manchester United, has come in flying and is looking good, and I’m excited to see where she can be after this season.”

“It’s nice to put the ball in the back of the net,” added Leon. “We got off to a good start and it’s nice to keep the clean sheet in the end. It was a bit of a gutty game, but played through to the 90th minute and saw some new faces on the field which was great. Happy to get the win.”

Canada captain Christine Sinclair also reached a milestone in this match. Already the record holder for international goals scored, Sinclair moved into a tie for second place all-time in international matches played.

Saturday’s contest was the 316th match of her Canada career, tying her with Carli Lloyd of the United States. A fellow American, Kristine Lilly played 354 times over 24 years and has a comfortable lead on first place all-time.

Sinclair can take sole possession of second place as early as Tuesday.

CanPL.ca Player of the Match

Kailen Sheridan, Canada

The Canadian goalkeeper made some huge stops, turning away each of Australia’s seven shots on target, including denying superstar Sam Kerr several times. It was Adriana Leon who scored the goal, and she easily could have been picked for this as well.

What’s next?

Canada will face Australia in a second friendly match on Tuesday, at the brand new Sydney Football Stadium. That match kicks off at 5:40 am ET/ 2:40 am PT. Watch that match live on OneSoccer.

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