Two out of the four new Australian faces in the WSL made their debut this weekend in England’s top flight.
Australian stars Kyra Cooney-Cross and Charlie Rule stepped onto the pitch in the WSL for the first time on Monday (AEDT), making their debuts in the opening weekend of the season.
The pair are four of the new Aussie stars in England’s top flight in 2023/24 with Brighton’s Mackenzie Hawkesby and Liverpool’s Teagan Micah having to wait another week for a shot at their debut in the WSL this season.
At Merseyside, Rule helped her side maintain their 2-1 lead against Everton for their first fixture of the season.
Brighton manager Melissa Phillips called on the former Sydney FC star in the 76th to replace England’s Katie Robinson in defence and hold onto their early lead.
Charlie stepped onto the field with a point to prove, playing brilliantly both on and off the ball, with 100% defensive ratings for tackles and duels won, as well as a 93% rating on her passing accuracy.
After an early brace from Albion’s Elisabeth Terland, Clare Wheeler’s side halved the deficit in the 65th minute but the equaliser never came.
Meanwhile, Cooney-Cross joined her two Matildas teammates Steph Catley and Caitlin Foord on the pitch to make her Arsenal debut in the 86th minute.
It had the chance to be the dream debut for the 21-year-old in front of 54,115 fans – a league record – at the Emirates. But it wasn’t to be, with Jonas Eidevall’s side going down 1-0 in their opening fixture of the season thanks to Miri Taylor’s second half match-winner.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE – Optus Sport