Sam Kerr has played her first minutes for Chelsea since her injury-ravaged Women’s World Cup, coming off the bench in a dramatic 1-1 draw with Manchester City.
Matildas superstar Kerr entered the fray after half-time, with Chelsea trailing 1-0 but City down to 10 players, including Australians Mary Fowler and Alanna Kennedy.
Kerr skipped Chelsea's Women's Super League season opener and hadn't played since the World Cup third-place play-off match. The 30-year-old missed all of Australia's group stage matches with a calf injury suffered on the eve of their World Cup opener against Ireland.
But Kerr featured in the Matildas' final four games, including scoring a wonder goal against England in the semi-final.
She sustained several knocks to both calves against Sweden in Australia's final game and is still being eased back.
City snatched the lead via Chloe Kelly in the seventh minute.
But the game was turned on its head when England defender Alex Greenwood was bizarrely sent off in the 38th minute after picking up her second yellow card, for time wasting.
When Kerr came on, Fowler was one of the attackers sacrificed by City to try to hold Chelsea out.
England winger Lauren Hemp picked up her second yellow card in the 82nd minute, leaving City with just nine players.
City's defence finally broke when Guro Reiten scored the equaliser in the 96th minute.
Kerr had a chance to snare all three points five minutes later but her looping header just hit the post.
Her return will be a pleasing sign for the Matildas, who start their Olympic qualifiers in Kerr's home city of Perth later this month.
Elsewhere, Matildas goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold kept a clean sheet as West Ham beat Brighton 2-0.
Charlie Rule came on in the 57th minute for Brighton while former Sydney FC midfielder Mackenzie Hawkesby was left on the bench.
Left-back Courtney Nevin played 70 minutes for Leicester City in a 1-0 win over Everton that sent the Foxes top of the league.
Midfielder Clare Wheeler came on in injury time for the Toffees.
Steph Catley played a full game for Arsenal in Saturday night's gripping 2-2 draw with Manchester United.
Caitlin Foord came on in the 59th minute while Kyra Cooney-Cross was left on the bench as Cloe Lacasse scored a brilliant 93rd-minute equaliser.
