Caitlin Dillon
Australia beat Tunisia 1-0 in a physical Group D encounter at Al Janoub Stadium to keep their qualification hopes alive.
Australia got the ball rolling amidst a spirited Tunisian crowd, but soon lost possession - much to the fans’ pleasure.
The early stages saw the majority of possession occurring in midfield, with both sides battling for the ball.
Around the ten minute mark, the Socceroos began a series of runs up the left flank, which the Tunisians hurriedly cleared, until Australia played out from the back, feeding Mitchell Duke, who flicked the ball to Craig Goodwin, and then back for Duke to head home into the far corner. With this goal, Duke becsme the first second division player to score in the tournament, as he netted the competition’s 50th goal.
Just before half time, Tunisia had their first chance of the match, but Harry Souttar pipped Mohamed Dräger to the post, denying him a shot on goal. Then, Jebali whipped the ball into the box for an advancing Yousef Msakni to get on the end of, but he clipped it wide of the near post.
During the break, Tunisia replaced yellow-carded Dräger with Ferjani Sassi - seeing the North African side switch to a more attacking formation, with four on the backline instead of five. They instantly appear more threatening as a result.
By the end of the second half, Tunisia had more than their share of possession with nine attempts to Australia’s seven, and four on target versus just two by the Australians. The Eagles of Carthage were unlucky not to equalise, but the match ended 1-0 - giving Australia their third ever World Cup win, and their second clean sheet.
The win puts Denmark firmly into second place in Group D behind France, with Denmark and Tunisia in third and fourth place, respectively, on a point each. As a result, when Denmark take on France at 7pm, a win will be essential to their advancement in the competition.