Canadians play better in 1-1 draw with Dutch, win Group A, but need to improve

For 86 minutes, the Canadian women's soccer team turned in a terrific performance against the Netherlands Monday night in Montreal. The 87th minute saw a Dutch equalizer, though, and Canada couldn't create much after that, eventually settling for a 1-1 draw that exposed many of the flaws that still remain with this Canadian team. Thanks to China's 2-2 draw with New Zealand in the other game, the single point was enough for Canada to win Group A and set up a Round of 16 match with a third-place team Sunday, but it was an extremely unconvincing group win. Although the Canadians have already improved from where they were at the start of this tournament, they'll still need to be much better if they don't want to quickly exit in the knockout stage.

Canadian head coach John Herdman made several lineup changes ahead of this one, taking out wingback Lauren Sesselmann, striker Melissa Tancredi, and midfielders Jonelle Filigno and Desiree Scott and bringing in defender Carmelina Moscato, midfielders Kaylyn Kyle and Jessie Fleming and striker Adriana Leon. Those changes were part of why Canada turned in a much better overall match than what we saw in Thursday's sloppy draw with New Zealand; Sesselmann had struggled in her first two matches, and while some of the others had played decently, fresh blood in the midfield and Leon's speed in attack seemed to benefit the Canadians.

Canada also seemed to be playing a more aggressive formation; while their lineup was tweeted as a 4-4-2 with just Leon and Christine Sinclair up front, in practice Sophie Schmidt and Leon were frequently essentially playing as wide forwards. That gave Canada an attack-oriented 4-3-3, with Sinclair pushing forward in the middle and then dropping back to cover on defence. It meant a lot of miles run for Sinclair, but she proved up to the task, and this approach seemed to give the Canadians more and better chances than they'd previously created against China or New Zealand.

After a bit of a slow start with both sides feeling each other out, Canada began creating plenty of chances, and they were rewarded in the 10th minute when midfielder Ashley Lawrence collected a rebound in the box after Schmidt's shot was blocked and drilled home a strike. The Canadians then showed a promising sign; they kept controlling the ball and kept pushing for more, rather than sitting back to defend a 1-0 lead. Lawrence had another superb chance just a minute later, and Sinclair had a good header go wide in the 12th. Through the first thirty minutes, most of the chances were created by Canada. Things changed a little after that, with the Netherlands pressing forwards and creating some solid chances, but the Canadians had eight shot attempts to the Dutch's four at the half and had held 49 per cent of the possession (and much more in attacking areas). A few more high-quality chances and better finishing would have been nice, but other than that, it was a great half for Canada.

Things started to fall apart after the break, though, with Canada looking more and more content to sit on a one-goal lead and the Netherlands creating more dangerous chances. Keeper Erin McLeod and defenders Kadeisha Buchanan and Alyssha Chapman made some great defensive plays to preserve the clean sheet for a while, but eventually the Oranje tide proved too much. In the 87th minute, Moscato turned the ball over near the halfway line, creating a great break for Dutch forward Manon Melis. Melis beat defender Rhian Wilkinson, and when Chapman came over to help, that left Kirsten Van de Ven wide open in the box. Van de Ven made no mistake, burying her strike and tying up the score. Canada couldn't get much going after that, and wound up settling for the draw.

Some of what we saw from the Canadian team Monday night was much better than their previous performances. They were creating stronger chances from open play, especially in the first half, and they were defending well, keeping attackers to the outside and only allowing low-percentage shots. However, Canada's decision to play more defensively in the second half was problematic. That allowed the Dutch to put more pressure on and create better chances. In some respects, the Canadians were lucky to only concede one. Meanwhile, they weren't creating much themselves, and when they did have a chance, they showed the finishing struggles that were so prominent through the first two matches. Canada will have to be much better on both attack and defence in order to get anywhere in the knockout round.

In the end, this was a stronger overall performance from the Canadian team than we'd seen to date in this tournament. The result also turned out to be all they needed. Still, the decision to take their foot off the gas after the halftime could have been incredibly costly. If China had been able to put away New Zealand, a draw would have left Canada in second and with likely a much more difficult Round of 16 match. Because the Canadians were able to win the group, they'll play a third-place finisher instead of a second-place one. Even with a theoretically-weaker opponent, they'll need to turn in a better performance in order to advance.

There was some progress Monday, and that's encouraging. The Canadians looked more determined to attack early on, and they were able to create some excellent chances. Some of the substitutions proved promising, suggesting there's decent depth on this team. However, finishing is still a huge issue; it's notable that only three teams have less than Canada's two goals to date, and they all have a group stage game remaining. To make a run in this tournament, Canada's going to have to keep going for goal, and they're going to have to start burying some of their chances. We'll see if they can do that in their round of 16 match Sunday.

More FIFA Women's World Cup coverage from Yahoo Canada Sports: