By George Clarke
Mary Fowler marked her first start for Australia in nearly a year with a goal as the Matildas thrashed Iran 4-0 in a dominant Women’s Asian Cup win.
There were fears Manchester City star Fowler would miss this year’s tournament on home soil when she suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury last April.
But after making a rapid return, Fowler showed she has lost no sharpness to grab a goal as Australia raced out to a 3-0 halftime lead on the Gold Coast on Thursday.
Alanna Kennedy, who grabbed a brace, added to the Matildas’ goal tally after the break, in front of a crowd of 22,398.
The only downside to the night for the Matildas was that Hayley Raso failed to finish the match due to a suspected concussion.
The result keeps Australia in second place in Group A, behind South Korea by just one goal’s difference.
Those two sides meet in Sydney on Sunday to determine who will top the group and the Koreans look set to provide a much sterner test of the Matildas’ credentials than Iran.
Australia dominated from start to finish in a game for which all the build-up had focused on Iran’s political uncertainty and the tears of 21-year-old forward Sara Didar.
Unlike their group game against South Korea earlier this week, Iranian players sang and performed a military salute during their national anthem after anti-regime protesters held a pre-game rally outside of the Gold Coast Stadium.
But their hopes of frustrating Australia into submission were quickly put to bed when Amy Sayer gave Joe Montemurro’s side the lead after eight minutes.
Sayer unleashed a cross from deep on the right but Iranian goalkeeper Maryam Yektaei misjudged the ball’s flight as it sailed over her head and into the back of the net.
Caitlin Foord then had a goal ruled out for offside before providing the spark for Fowler’s first of the tournament.
Yektaei was unable to deal with a Foord delivery with the rebound falling kindly for Fowler to tap in with a 27th-minute finish.
Kennedy further strengthened Australia’s advantage when the reinvented defensive midfielder made a charge into the Iranian box and smashed home a Sam Kerr lay-off.
Kerr, like Foord, had a first-half goal chalked off and looked set to get on the scoresheet when Australia was awarded a penalty early into the first half following a handball by Golnoosh Khosravi.
Japanese referee Asaka Koizumi overturned her own decision after watching a replay but eventually Iran’s defence broke when Kennedy grabbed her second by heading in an Emily van Egmond corner.
Kerr’s goal never came because with half an hour left to play Montemurro took his captain, Fowler and Foord off as Australia’s attention turns to a group-defining encounter with South Korea.
Proudly Australian owned and operated
