Disastrous Nigeria loss leaves Matildas in peril

afr.com:

The Matildas have slumped to a disastrous 3-2 loss to Nigeria and will likely have to beat Canada without Sam Kerr to avoid a group stage exit at their home Women’s World Cup.

Australia (three points, goal difference 0) sit third in Group B behind Nigeria (four points, +1) and Canada (four points, +1) after letting a 1-0 lead slip at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night.

It means a draw against the world No.7 in Melbourne on Monday likely won’t be enough to reach the round of 16.

Emily van Egmond, who replaced the concussed Mary Fowler as Australia’s secondary striker alongside Caitlin Foord, scored the opener in the first minute of first-half added time.

Nigeria took the wind out of Australia’s sails five minutes later when Uchenna Kanu equalised.

In the second half, Australia’s attack failed to capitalise on chances while their defence completely fell apart in front of 49,156 fans.

Osinachi Ohale toe-poked Nigeria ahead in the 65th minute and Asisat Oshoala pounced on a defensive mix-up seven minutes later to seal Nigeria the three points.

Coach Tony Gustavsson didn’t make any attacking changes until bringing on Alex Chidiac in the 85th minute.

The Matildas congratulate Nigeria on their win. Reuters

Eventually they found the net, Alana Kennedy heading home from a corner 10 minutes into added time.

Ellie Carpenter then had a shot to secure a miracle draw saved in the final moments as the Africans hung on.

Fowler and Aivi Luik were both ruled out after suffering concussions in separate incidents in Tuesday’s closed training.

The pair joined superstar captain Kerr (calf) and veteran striker Kyah Simon (knee) on the sidelines.

Australia started the game confidently on the ball but despite dominating possession, they created