Brazil complete sweep of Matildas

Captain Steph Catley was a late withdrawal as the Matildas suffered a second successive loss to Brazil on Sunday night.

Beaten 3-1 by the South Americans in a fiery encounter last Thursday in Brisbane, Australia again came up short on the Gold Coast, losing 2-1 in front of more than 25,000 fans.

Arsenal star Catley had been named in the starting team, only to be withdrawn after suffering what was described by team officials as “lower leg tightness” in the pre-game warm-up at Cbus Super Stadium.

She was replaced in the starting 11 by Leicester City’s Courtney Nevin in one of four changes to the team that started in last Thursday’s loss at Suncorp Stadium.

Goalkeeper Teagan Micah, striker Michelle Heyman and attacking midfielder Tameka Yallop were the other three inclusions at the expense of Mackenzie Arnold, Winonah Heatley and retiring defender Clare Polkinghorne, who has remained with the squad after her farewell match in Brisbane.

For the second match in succession, Brazil dominated proceedings early and grabbed a deserved lead in the 29th minute through Gabi Portilho.

The 29-year-old Corinthians attacker took advantage of a first-time pass from teammate Adriana with a shot that flew past Micah on its way to the roof of the net.

Liverpool keeper Micah made a host of first-half saves but was forced to pick the ball out of the net for a second time in the 40th minute when defender Lauren doubled the visitors’ lead.

Amanda Gutierres, who scored twice in Brisbane, turned provider by setting up the goal with a cross to the far post, where Lauren netted from close range after making a late run that escaped the attention of Matildas forward Michelle Heyman.

However, the hosts forced their way back into the contest two minutes later when the Gold Coast’s own Hayley Raso delighted the fans with her 20th goal for the Matildas after being found at the far post by a low cross from Caitlin Foord.

While the Australians celebrated, the Brazilians were furious the goal was allowed to stand, believing Yallop had fouled Adriana in the goal’s build-up.

Newcastle Jets defender Natasha Prior was given her Matildas debut when she came on at the start of the second half as a replacement for Clare Hunt.

However, it was Brazil who started the second stanza with plenty of intent and should have scored a third goal in the 48th minute, but Giovana Queiroz blasted the ball over the crossbar with only Micah to beat.

But the Olympic Games silver medallists held on to complete a clean sweep of the two-game series.

Matildas interim coach Tom Sermanni was left to lament his side’s lack of composure in attack.

“There were a couple of times when we were in great positions and had we just executed the pass better or made a better decision, we’d have been in,” Sermanni told Network 10.

“We either took the wrong options sometimes, or the pass just wasn’t quite up to what it needed to be.”

The Matildas will be sweating on the fitness of Catley ahead of their next clash on Wednesday night when they host Chinese Taipei at AAMI Park.