Jada Whyman and Cortnee Vine made debuts for their new clubs, while Winonah Heatley was named Player of the Match and scored a goal in her 50th appearance in Denmark in this weekend’s Matildas Abroad action.
Read our review of all of the action below.
United States
Gotham FC defeated Portland Thorns 2-0 in a big first win after the international break. Ella Stevens gave Gotham the lead early in the game before Yazmeen Ryan made sure of the result with a second-half goal. Mackenzie Arnold will have to wait to make her Thorns debut after being an unused substitute in this game.
Landon Donovan’s NWSL reign at San Diego Wave has gotten underway with a 2-1 defeat to Angel City FC. A first-half brace to 19-year-old Alyssa Thompson was enough to break Angel City’s losing streak, ensuring that Abby Dahlkemper’s stoppage-time goal was nothing more than a consolation for the Wave.
Emily van Egmond started and played the full game for the Wave. Kaitlyn Torpey was unavailable due to a lower leg injury.
The North Carolina Courage were defeated in heartbreaking circumstances on Monday (AEST), a Casey Murphy own goal forced by a header from 17-year-old Emeri Adames deep in stoppage time giving Seattle Reign the 1-0 victory.
Cortnee Vine made her debut for the Courage, starting and playing 86 minutes. She made a huge impression, coming inches away from both scoring and assisting at different points throughout the game, and will take a lot of confidence from her first overseas club appearance.
Sweden
Two late goals to Vittsjö GIK consigned AIK Fotboll to a 3-2 defeat on Jada Whyman’s club debut. A penalty to Adelisa Grabus and a stunning free kick from Daniella Rachel Famili gave AIK the lead heading into the second half, but late goals to Julia Leas and Hanna Ekengren gave Vittsjö the three points.
Whyman played the full game between the sticks in the 24-year-old’s first competitive appearance for an overseas club.
Kristianstads DFF continued their spot of bad form over the weekend, falling 1-0 to Piteå IF. Maria Henriksson’s second-half goal was the difference as Kristianstads now find themselves nine points from European qualification.
Clare Polkinghorne started and played the full game in defence. Remy Siemsen started for the first time, before being substituted in the 77th minute.
Aivi Luik’s BK Häcken take on top of the table FC Rosengård on Tuesday, 3am AEST in a must-win game to remain in title contention.
Denmark
Winonah Heatley was named Player of the Match as FC Nordsjælland made it three wins from three over the weekend, defeating Odense Boldklub 2-0. Heatley scored the second goal after defensive partner Emilie Byrnak scored the first and helped her side to their second clean sheet of the season.
Nordsjælland sits on top of the league table and is looking on track to be in a good position to defend last season’s title.
Netherlands
Daniela Galic’s FC Twente defeated Anderlecht 1-0 on Saturday as their pre-season continues. Galic started this friendly on the bench as the team continued to prepare for the UEFA Women’s Champions League qualifier against Cardiff City in 10 days.
England
Chelsea defeated Arsenal 1-0 at Audi Field in a pre-season friendly in Washington DC on Monday morning (AEST). A Sandy Baltimore goal was the difference between the two sides. All three of the ‘Ausenal’ trio of Kyra Cooney-Cross, Caitlin Foord and Steph Catley started the match before all being substituted off as Jonas Eidevall continues to rotate his team in pre-season.
Arsenal will next take the field in a UEFA Women’s Champions League qualification match against the Scottish team Rangers, while Chelsea has a friendly match scheduled against the Dutch side Feyenoord in a fortnight.
Sam Kerr did not travel to the United States with Chelsea as she continues her rehabilitation for an ACL injury acquired at the beginning of this year.