From the Women’s Super League to France’s Division 1 Feminine. KEEPUP has you covered with all the Australian women’s football action abroad.
Wholesome moment between two Matildas favourites
Caitlin Foord made her 100th appearance for Arsenal over the weekend and it was capped with a 2-1 win over Bristol City in the Women’s Super League.
Foord started alongside fellow Matildas star Steph Catley as Katie McCabe’s double secured back-to-back wins for Arsenal, who are three points off the pace after four rounds heading into the international break.
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After Foord’s century milestone, there was a wholesome moment between the A-Leagues great and fellow Australian Kyra Cooney-Cross.
“Super proud to get 100 games for The Arsenal. Can’t wait to see you when we get back from the international break,” Foord said via the club’s official social media channels.
But as Foord shared the message, she was interrupted by Matildas midfielder Cooney-Cross, who was an unused substitute for Arsenal.
After Cooney-Cross shouted ‘Gooners’ as she entered the video, Foord joked: “She’s so annoying.”
And Foord – who will head in Perth for the Matildas’ Olympic Games qualifiers against Iran (26 October), the Philippines (29 October) and Chinese Taipei (1 November) – continued the banter on her own social media.
“That annoying little sister @stephcatley and I never wanted @kyracooneyx,” she wrote.
For Foord, it was her 100th game for the Gunners across all competitions, having arrived in 2019-20.
In that time, she has won the FA Women’s League Cup (2022-23) and scored 20 WSL goals, while she has found the back of the net 33 times in all competitions.
Elsewhere in the WSL, Sam Kerr went from goalscorer to provider as defending champions Chelsea fought back to beat Brighton and Hove Albion 4-2.
Kerr did not score but the superstar Matildas captain did set up one for Chelsea, who are level with Manchester City atop the table.
Charli Rule, who has been called up by the Matildas as a train-on player, came off the bench for Brighton while Mackenzie Hawkesby was an unused substitute.
Mary Fowler and Alanna Kennedy both started City’s 1-0 win over Courtney Nevin‘s Leicester City.
Clare Wheeler‘s Everton were beaten 5-0 by Manchester United, Mackenzie Arnold‘s West Ham scored a 95th-minute equaliser to salvage a 1-1 draw with Merseyside rivals Liverpool, who had Teagan Micah on the bench.
Hunt makes league bow, another A-Leagues graduate debuts
It was a big week for A-Leagues graduate and Matildas defender Clare Hunt, capped off with her Division 1 Feminine debut.
During the week, Hunt started as Paris Saint-Germain qualified for the UEFA Women’s Champions League group phase with a 3-1 win over Manchester United.
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On Saturday, the ex-Western Sydney Wanderers defender was in the starting line-up as PSG crushed Lille 4-0.
Hunt played the first half for PSG, who are third in the standings and six points behind league-leading Lyon after their previous match was suspended due to fireworks.
Ellie Carpenter was not in Lyon’s squad for their 5-1 rout of Stade de Reims.
Carpenter was released early for international duty.
There was also a first appearance for ex-Sydney FC midfielder Sarah Hunter over the weekend.
Hunter had not made it off the bench since joining Paris FC from the Liberty A-League champions, but she played the entire second half of the 6-0 mauling of Dijon.
An unwanted career first for Matildas full-back
Charlotte Grant was sent off in Vittsjo GIK’s 2-0 loss to Rosengard in Sweden’s Damallsvenskan over the weekend.
An 18-time Australia international, Grant saw red after denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity deep in stoppage time.
The former Adelaide United defender brought down her opponent with an empty net beckoning as Vittsjo had pushed numbers forward in search of an equaliser.
It was the first red card of Grant’s career.
Fellow Matildas Katrina Gorry and Clare Polkinghorne also started for Vittsjo, who are sixth in the table and 13 points adrift of Hacken.
Aivi Luik‘s Hacken defeated Uppsala 1-0, with the Australian midfielder completing the full 90 minutes, while Amy Sayer‘s Kristianstads DFF drew 0-0 at Vaxjo DFF.
Over in Norway, Larissa Crummer played 88 minutes as SK Brann defeated Rosenborg 2-0.
In Spain’s Liga F, Hayley Raso came off the bench as Real Madrid suffered their first loss of the season – a 2-1 defeat at home to Levante.
Alex Chidiac was a second-half substitute for Tigres UANL in their 3-1 loss to Monterrey in Mexico’s Liga MX Femenil.
