England 1-1 Australia: Fran Kirby scores again but wasteful Lionesses held
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England suffer controversial calls in draw with Australia
England paid the price for their wastefulness in front of goal as they drew with an under-strength Australia at Craven Cottage.
Chelsea forward Fran Kirby turned and fired the Lionesses ahead midway through the first half after being found by Beth Mead, who had latched on to a poor clearance by Matildas goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold.
Lucy Staniforth then had a second goal ruled out for offside on the stroke of half-time, with replays showing the officials got the decision wrong.
England failed to take further chances, although they had two strong claims for a penalty turned down, and defender Clare Polkinghorne headed in from a corner with six minutes remaining to deny the hosts a sixth successive win.
England dominate but fail to make it count
England boss Phil Neville had called on his side to be more clinical with their opportunities following their 1-0 win over Brazil on Saturday and will be rueing more missed chances as his side, ranked third in the world, continued their preparations for next summer's World Cup in France.
Australia, ranked sixth, proved to be stubborn opponents despite missing several senior players including striker Sam Kerr but England were good value for their lead at the break.
Mead impressed after being handed a start on the right wing and the Arsenal striker will be wondering how she did not get on the scoresheet in west London.
She fired wide twice when Arnold was out of position, saw a flicked effort well saved by the keeper and should have been awarded a spot-kick when she was brought down by Caitlin Foord on the stroke of half-time.
But England failed to convert their dominance into a second goal, and will have to be more ruthless if they wish to improve on their third-place finish at the 2015 World Cup in Canada.
Officials under the spotlight
England keeper Mary Earps saved well from Princess Ibini and Ellie Carpenter in the second half but the Lionesses were eventually punished as Polkinghorne rose highest to powerfully head in Elise Kellond-Knight's corner from the right, but the quality of the match officials proved to be the main talking point.
Kirby and Staniforth were clearly level from Mead's clever through ball before the break, and Birmingham midfielder Staniforth was behind play before she tapped in Kirby's square ball.
French referee Florence Guillemin then turned down further England appeals for a penalty with 10 minutes left after Nikita Parris was clearly brought down by Foorde, having touched the ball past the Matildas left-back.
Unlike this year's men's World Cup in Russia, there will be no VAR (video assistant referee) system in place at the Women's World Cup in 2019.
After Tuesday's game, Neville admitted he is worried by the performances of the officials at the tournament in France and what impact this may have on the growth of the game.
"Having VAR at the World Cup does not worry me, the standard of refereeing does," he said. "If we want to make the women's game absolute top, we are putting the players under immense pressure to challenge them to be better professionals and have better quality.
"Every country in the world is on the same pathway, not just England - and then I see a performance like that tonight. That is my biggest concern."
Woman of the match - Fran Kirby (England)
The Chelsea forward, nominated for the inaugural Women's Ballon d'Or alongside right-back Lucy Bronze, almost proved to be England's match-winner again and should have had an assist but for the assistant's wrongful offside flag
What's next?
England are back in action against Sweden, ranked ninth in the world, in Rotherham on Sunday, 11 November at 13:30 GMT.