Australia v Taiwan: international women’s football friendly – live | Matildas

59 mins: Gielnik is through on goal with plenty of space in front of her and only the keeper to beat until a slightly heavy touch takes her too close to the glovewoman. The Matildas forward beats Wang to the ball but the keeper’s swinging leg is only a split second behind and clears the danger.

56 mins: Galic gives herself room on the edge of the box with a deft touch away from the defender and blasts a shot towards goal but the Taiwan defence get a boot in just in the nick of time.

54 mins: Tash Prior continues to get involved closer to goal as the Matildas search for a third goal. The Matildas keep working the triangles, especially on the right side with Tameka Yallop, but there aren’t any obvious gaps in the Taiwan defence.

52 mins: Chen gives the Matildas a little reminder that Taiwan are still within reach as ball is bombed into space down the right and the goalscorer is the first to reach it. A shot from a tough angle is targeted just inside the near post but Arnold takes it cleanly.

50 mins: The Matildas are more prepared to pass around the defensive line and even bring keeper Arnold into the build up while trying to draw Taiwan out of their 5-4-1 structure. But the visitors ain’t falling for that one.

48 mins: Australia are back on the attack and Michelle Heyman directs a corner towards goal only for it to be blocked by a wall of Taiwan defenders. Goalscorer Tash Prior side-foots the second ball back in the same direction but the same wall stands firm.

46 mins: We’re back in action at AAMI Park and both sides have lined up as they were before the break.

The Matildas were on top for much of the first half with 61-39% possession, while have 13 shots with six on target. But in more than a hint of the problems that haunted them against Brazil in Queensland, Australia left the door open at the back and Taiwan stepped right through it. The visitors had five shots with two on target, so they were hardly out of the contest and the narrow margin means the Matildas still have plenty of work to do.

Half-time: Australia 2-1 Taiwan

46 mins: We’ll have a minimum of three minutes added time. Galic finds herself with the ball in dangerous places inside the box with some fancy footwork but twice is unable to pick out a pass. The Matildas will be pleased to see Galic involved in those areas though.

44 mins: Heyman hugs the rare high line and glances a header on for Freier to run on to but the midfielder was too far ahead of the ball and is flagged for offside.

41 mins: Gielnik creates something out of nothing as a long ball finds her in the box as the forward takes a neat touch off the chest then swivels around to cross for Heyman on the edge of the six-yard box. Heyman directs the header goalward but Taiwan keeper Wang Y is perfectly placed to clutch the firm shot.

39 mins: Taiwan work the ball into their attacking half as well as they have all evening but a speculative shot from just outside the box sails high and narrowly wide.

37 mins: The Matildas almost respond immediately as a long ball finds Michelle Heyman and the centre-forward drops it at her feet with an exquisite touch. But just as Heyman angles her body to shoot, a pair of defenders get in the way.

Goal! Australia 2-1 Taiwan (Chen J ’33)

32 mins: A moment of respite as Taiwan sit deep and the Matildas knock the ball around, allowing Chidiac to get her foot on the ball and work her way into the game.

29 mins: Chloe Logarzo is subbed off with Alex Chidiac to come on. Logarzo has been on a long road to return to the Matildas setup after a serious knee injury, and the midfielder is in tears as she takes a seat on the sidelines.

27 mins: A heavy clash of heads between players competing for a bouncing ball leaves Chloe Logarzo looking worse for wear. Chan Pi-Han is soon able to walk to the sidelines, while Logarzo has to undertake a concussion test. The returning midfielder might have to call it a night and that would be a heartbreaking end to her match.

25 mins: Taiwan break and Su Yu-Hsuan, their chief goalscorer, is almost through on goal until Charlie Grants closes her down. A first shot is blocked before bouncing out to another attacker where a second attempt is also blocked. A nice little warning shot for the Matildas that this won’t necessarily go all their own way.

23 mins: Sharn Freier is locked into the corner surrounded by a pair of Taiwan defenders but finds an escape route with some dazzling footwork. The Brisbane Roar midfielder is pulled to ground as the Matildas target another free kick towards their towering forwards. Galic is the first to get under it but the ball skims off her head without any direction.

20 mins: Charlie Grant and Sharn Freier are working well together down the left. This feels like a fantastic opportunity for both of the emerging-to-fringe Matildas to press their claims for more game time in the future. Both tend to impress whenever called into action.

18 mins: Taiwan bravely play out from the back, after coach Chan Hiu Ming had said pre-match that he was more interested in the visitors stringing passes together than trying to keep the scoreboard in check. Emily van Egmond wins the ball back in the middle of the pitch but overhits the pass down the lift channel to be just out of Freier’s reach.

15 mins: The Matildas are queuing up to get on the score sheet as Taiwan’s defence returns to a compact couple of lines. That has helped the visitors to limit the damage so far but the ball has hardly passed halfway.

Goal! Australia 2-0 Taiwan (Freier ’12)

Goal! Australia 1-0 Taiwan (Prior ’11)

8 mins: Chloe Logarzo takes her turn to pepper the goals with a long range shot that is deflected skyward. That could have gone anywhere.

5 mins: Sharn Freier is the next Matildas player to have a sight on goal as the midfielder breaks clear from a scramble in the box. The chance goes to waste but once again the offside flag is raised.

3 mins: Emily Gielnik breaks the high line and is through on goal until a slightly heavy touch takes the ball deeper than she’d like. The shot from a narrow angle is easily saved by Wang Yu-Ting. The flag belatedly goes up for offside. Replays show it was a very tight call.

1 min: The Matildas lock the ball forward from the kick-off and a Tameka Yallop cross almost finds the head of Michelle Heyman. A bright start.

Kick-off

The national anthems are complete, team photos have been taken, Matildas midfielder Chloe Logarzo has shed a tear on her return to the side, and the captains are running through their final instructions. We are about to get underway …

A pair of Matildas veterans have a rare opportunity to work together up front in the absence of Caitlin Foord, Hayley Raso and injured skipper Sam Kerr. Emily Gielnik and Michelle Heyman have been on the fringes of the national team throughout much of their careers but can now stake a claim to be the first-choice back up to Kerr, and perhaps first cab off the rank when Australia want to play with two centre-forwards. Their partnership should be an interesting little contest within the broader context this evening.

There is a nice local flavour to the Matildas’ lineup this evening with Melbourne Victory forward Emily Gielnik leading the line and Western United midfielder Chloe Logarzo returning to the starting XI. Their own cheer squads have arrived early too.

While we wait for the players to get kitted up and make their way on to AAMI Park, take the time to dig into the Guardian’s ever-expansive 100 best female footballers in the world 2024.

Players to land in places 41-100 have, at the time of writing, been revealed. Spoiler alert: the list so far includes three Matildas. Let me know which Australia players might make the top 40 countdown?

These two friendlies against Taiwan in Melbourne tonight and in Geelong on Saturday are the Matildas’ last matches for the year. Australia’s record this year is middling, in part due to a disappointing Olympic Games campaign, with six wins, five losses and a draw from their official matches.

The women’s national squad will be back together in February for the SheBelieves Cup against Japan, Colombia and hosts USA. Who knows, the Matildas might even have a permanent head coach then, but in the meantime third-time mentor Tom Sermanni will take charge for the pair of clashes with Taiwan. The 70-year-old took a thinly veiled swipe at his predecessors for failing to properly balance present-day success with the future needs of the team.

One of the key things as a national team coach is you’ve got to play for the present but plan for the future. And I think, in all fairness, I don’t think we’ve planned for the future well enough.

Taiwan XI

Matildas XI

Resident football reporter Joey Lynch is at AAMI Park this evening and will be wrapping up all the action later with a match report. Joey has already looked at what we learned from the Matildas’ two matches against Brazil, who were of course continuing their on-field preparations before hosting the 2027 Women’s World Cup.

The Matildas know of the benefits that come with hosting the World Cup, but unlike the Seleção, Australia’s own period of rejuvenation comes after hosting the showpiece event. For the Matildas, the years ahead are to be defined by a balancing act struck between the pursuit of an Asian Cup on home soil in 2026 and managing the transition away from a golden generation of players at the twilight of their careers.

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Martin Pegan