The Matildas have continued their rich run of form, winning three straight as they stunned world No.2 Sweden with a 4-0 win in Melbourne.
Sam Kerr grabbed her 60th goal for Australia just before half-time, and the lead was doubled early in the second with Caitlin Foord nailing a superb finish from a long-field move.
Mary Fowler sent the 22,065 fans at AAMI Park into party mode when her left-footed effort deflected off goalkeeper Zecira Musovic to make it 3-0 with less than 20 minutes remaining.
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Kerr gives Matildas the lead
With just over 10 minutes remaining, Foord dropped her second over Musovic from close range after a superb pass from Emily van Egmond, and the thrashing was truly complete.
“At the moment I’m just enjoying and enjoying my football, and I guess when we go back home we want to take every opportunity to make the most of it,” Foord said afterwards.
“We found that sweet spot and we want to be an attacking team. We want to be aggressive and we do our best when we do it.”
Australia repeatedly soaked up any Swedish pressure before surging forward in waves, a masterclass in counter-attacking football, and had they been a little more clinical the margin could have been even greater.
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Caitlin Foord celebrates after scoring at AAMI Park. (Darrian Traynor via Getty Images)
It was undeniably Australia’s best performance under coach Tony Gustavsson, who has repeatedly preached patience ahead of next year’s World Cup.
The visitors had plenty of possession inside Australia’s half, but relied largely on long range shots, with no real threats to Teagan Micah’s goal, both due to some desperate blocks from defenders and at ill-placed ends.
Matilda Vinberg probably had the best chance to grab a late consolation and a debut goal for herself, but she fired over from close range from the penalty spot.
“I think we played a good first half,” visiting coach Peter Gerhardsson said afterwards.
“A goal changes things, and I think we had good opportunities [in the first half] … but with these goals [Australia scored]something happens in the game.”
Sweden captain Linda Sembrant echoed the sentiments.
“The scoreline was very frustrating but they scored their chances … we’ll learn a lot from this one,” he said.
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Suddenly, after a brutal stretch in both friendlies and tournaments, the team finally seems to be turning the page – this is their third straight win, following South Africa’s mauling of England last month, and after a win over Denmark.
Australia will return to action against Thailand on Tuesday night.
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