Pressure mounts on Mackenzie Arnold as Matildas rocked by 'horrible' moment and ugly 17-year first

The Matildas got back in the winner's circle on Wednesday night with a 3-1 win over Chinese Taipei. But there were heartbreaking scenes for the luckless Chloe Logarzo and more questions about whether Mackenzie Arnold is still the No.1 goalkeeper.

Interim coach Tom Sermanni fielded a second-string team in Melbourne on Wednesday night after the majority of the Matildas' stars went back to their club teams in Europe. But it marked a valuable opportunity to blood some new talent, with next-gen stars Daniela Galic, Natasha Prior and Sharn Freier all handed their first starts.

Prior and Freier netted their first international goals in the 10th and 12th minutes at AAMI Park, before substitute Bryleeh Henry did likewise to seal the victory in the 78th minute. And despite a strong showing from the young Matildas, the victory was rather unconvincing and might have posed more headaches.

There were horrible scenes for Logarzo when she was forced to come from the field after suffering a head knock just 20 minutes into the game. Logarzo was in tears as she came from the field after her first start for Australia since tearing her ACL in 2022 was ruined.

The 29-year-old pleaded with medical staff to allow her to play on, desperate to represent her country after being overlooked for selection for the World Cup last year. Sermanni said he didn't know yet whether a "devastated" Logarzo was concussed - which would rule her out of the Matildas' second match against Chinese Taipei on Saturday in Geelong - with the doctors still looking at the midfielder after the match.

"She's got the old egg on the side of her head at the moment. She feels good," he said. "Hopefully it's not too bad and hopefully she might come into discussions for the next game." Fans were left heartbroken for Logarzo given her injury history and hard-luck story.

More pressure on Mackenzie Arnold after ugly 17-year first

The other big concern for Sermanni was the fact the Matildas conceded a goal against Chinese Taipei for the first time in five games and 17 years. There was a miscommunication with defender Charli Grant that allowed Chen Jin-wen to score in the 34th minute, with keeper Arnold also found way out of position.

The Matildas players looked rather foolish as Jin-wen dribbled around Grant and Arnold to slot home and spark the contest to life. Sermanni said the goal put Australia under unnecessary pressure after he'd been delighted with his team scoring twice early.

"As a coach, you would like to create more when you do that, but then you've also got to be pragmatic and practical," he said. "We've had one training session on the day before the game with a significantly different group of players.

"And then you throw them on the field with a little bit of guidance, and you hope that things all come together. So you've got to look at the game in that way as well. And so I think overall, it was challenging to create chances, but that's not unexpected."

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The goal was the first Chinese Taipei scored against Australia since 2007, and comes after Arnold conceded three against Brazil last week. Many have suggested the World Cup hero might not be the No.1 shot-stopper anymore, with calls for Teagan Micah to become first-choice keeper after a brilliant display in the second game against Brazil.

Overall, Sermanni was happy with the performance of his young team and the fact he got to hand out some valuable experience at international level. Earlier this week the coach took aim at the previous regime for "not planning well enough for the future" given the ageing Matildas squad is set for some major changes in coming years.