Caitlin Foord puts on a masterclass for the Matildas
Caitlin Foord, along with her two Arsenal Women’s teammates Steph Catley and Kyra Cooney-cross all started for Australia on Sunday to take on the Philippines Women’s national team in their journey to qualify for the Olympics and currently sit top of Group A. Foord herself coming away with a hat trick and 4 assists.
Caitlin Foord put on quite a performance and it didn’t take long for her to make her mark on the game, only 15 minutes in a cross came into the box and Foord flicked the ball behind her landing at the feet of Manchester City attacker Mary Fowler, putting Australia 1-0 up.
Only three minutes later Foord made an incredible run down the left wing, beating three Philippine player’s and cutting inside the defender to cross the ball perfectly into the feet of Chelsea striker Sam Kerr, putting Australia 2-0 up after just 18 minutes.
It didn’t take long for Caitlin to get on the scoresheet herself and in the 28th minute, a cross came into Sam Kerr in the box, who passed it into Foord who was in the perfect position, open in the box and fired a shot past the keeper in the net.
Only four minutes after that she was again on the score sheet, after a bad pass out from the Philippines keeper that landed at the feet of Real Madrid’s Hayley Raso and put the ball through to Foord who pushed off the defender to fire a shot into the bottom left of the net, scoring her second of the night and putting Australia 4-0 up.
In the dying seconds of the first half’s extra time, Foord managed to win the ball back and put the perfect through ball to Sam Kerr who blasted the ball into the back of the net, leaving the keeper with no chance and going in the break 5-0 up and with Foord being involved in every goal, scoring two of her own and assisting the other three.
If you thought she was done, you would be mistaken. In the 56th minute the Philippines players were trying to clear the ball, but Foord managed to win it back, then somehow beats three defenders with some fancy footwork, cuts inside to make enough space for her to fire a shot into the top of the net, scoring her third for the night and completing her hat trick and putting Australia 7-0 in front.
In the 72nd minute she added to her long list of goals and assists and passed the ball to the feet of Clare Wheeler who put a rocket past the keeper to make it 8-0.
Overall, an extremely impressive game for Foord, scoring a hat trick and getting four assists to help her country top the group, and she will hopefully bring that form back to London.
Steph Catley and Kyra Cooney-Cross also started and played a bit part in The Matildas massive 8-0 victory. Catley played a full 90 minutes at CB and completed 62 accurate passes and Cooney-Cross played 64 minutes but completely bossed the midfield while she was on the pitch.
A great night out for our Arsenal Women!
What’s your thoughts Gooners?
Daisy Mae
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