The England Lionesses have beaten the Matildas 3-1 in last night’s World Cup semi-final at Sydney’s Stadium Australia.
England drew first blood, with a late first-half goal from Ella Toone silencing the crowd in Sydney Olympic Park and live sites around the country.
Matildas superstar Sam Kerr rocketed the ball into the back of the net with her 63rd-minute, outside-the-box screamer, equalising the game at one-all with Australia believing once again.
This is Kerr’s first time starting on-field for the tournament after being hampered by a calf injury in the group stage.
Disaster would strike just eight minutes later for Australia, as Lauren Hemp finished on her left foot after a costly defending error by Ellie Carpenter.
England’s 2-1 lead would be under threat for almost the rest of regulation, with captain Sam Kerr having multiple goal-scoring opportunities.
Kerr would come close with a header that wasn’t deflected well enough, but her best chance would come in the 85th minute when her inside-the-box volley was sent wide.
Not that long later, the match was all but over with Alessia Russo making the score line 3-1 for England as they advance to the World Cup final.
Last night’s match broke the viewership record set by the Matildas’ quarter-final clash against France. While 75,784 were in attendance, the game was watched by 11.15 million Australians on free-to-air TV, and had an average viewership on channel Seven and 7plus of 7.13 million.
These numbers don’t take into account those who watched the game on Optus Sport, the World Cup’s paid TV provider.
The Lionesses will now face Spain in Sunday night’s final, while the Matildas will play Sweden in the third-place game on Saturday evening in Brisbane.
Photo: By Little Binky is available HERE and is used under under a Creative Commons Licence. This image has not been modified.
