Van Egmond and Kerr sink Thailand to extend Matildas’ winning Asian Cup run

Australia have completed their expected clean sweep of wins in the group stage of the Women’s Asian Cup but a much-changed side made hard work of their 2-1 victory over Thailand.

Despite picking a team that gave a nod to the Matildas’ future, it was not the young guns but the goalscoring quality of the old hands Emily van Egmond and Sam Kerr that ensured the 100% record in Mumbai was kept intact on Thursday.

The experienced midfielder Van Egmond, one of only two starters who remained from the team that beat the Philippines 4-0 in Group B on Monday, was the best player on the pitch at the Mumbai Football Arena.

After the Matildas’ young three-pronged strike force had failed to seriously trouble the Thais’ backline, Van Egmond showed them the way with a superb 39th-minute goal from just outside the penalty area that finally rewarded their territorial dominance.

After Van Egmond was brought off with 25 minutes left, after her fifth goal of the tournament, the captain, Kerr, was brought on and her presence seemed to galvanise the team.

When the Thai keeper Kanchanaporn Saenkhun dropped the substitute Kyah Simon’s cross in the 79th minute, inevitably Kerr was on hand to nudge the ball almost apologetically into the net. It was her 56th international goal and her tournament-leading seventh.

With victory assured, the coach, Tony Gustavsson, would have been unhappy to see the Matildas failing to keep a clean sheet as the Thai substitute Nipawan Panyosuk produced a striking 94th minute volley to reduce the deficit – the first goal the Australians have conceded in the tournament.

The Matildas will next meet South Korea in the quarter-finals in Pune on Sunday.