Against a stout Australian defence, Canada struggled to advance fair on a cool Friday night in Hochelaga.

Watford’s Nestory Irankunda provided the lone goal of the night for the visitors, punishing Burnaby, B.C.’s Niko Sigur in the 71st minute for a lackadaisical moment inside his own box.

Ismaël Koné, Promise David, and Tani Oluwaseyi each had chances to find one for Canada, but Paul Izzo stood tall to earn his second clean sheet with the Socceroos.

The Socceroos entered into their October window on an 11-match undefeated streak. One would need to go all the way back to last September, when they fell 1-0 to Bahrain in AFC World Cup qualifiers, to find their last loss. In that time, they had conceded just seven goals.

On their own redemption tour after being dumped unceremoniously from this summer’s Gold Cup, Canada arrived in Montréal in high spirits after wins over Romania and Wales in September, respectively. Splitting both games, Maxime Crépeau and Dayne St. Clair both kept clean sheets in those wins.

It should be no surprise, then, that the first half on Friday ended without goals.

Starting in a 5-4-1 formation with DC United centreback Kye Rowles deputising on the left side of the back five, the Aussies proved a solid test for a Canadian side that has struggled in the past with sides putting their defensive foot first.

In front of a 19,000-strong crowd at Stade Saputo, Tajon Buchanan was brought down after just two minutes, to the disapproval of the crowd after referee Steven Madrigal waved away shouts for a penalty. Buchanan found another opportunity ten minutes later, but was closed out at the end line.

In a vote of confidence, Jesse Marsch gave Cyle Larin the start alongside Jonathan David. Larin would have two half-chances of his own in the first half. Lacking the ‘Larinsimo’ finish, his header before the half-hour would loop over the bar. He also seemed to get visibly frustrated before half-time, when Buchanan decided to take on Rowles one-on-one, instead of trying to find Larin between two defenders.

The best chance of the half for Les Rouges would come on the other side of the half hour. In a play not too dissimilar from Larin’s match-winning assist for Feyenoord last weekend, the striker played in hometown boy Koné.

Koné’s touch took the ball and his body separate ways around defender Milos Degenek, but Australia goalkeeper Izzo managed to just claw the ball back before it rolled over the line.

Australia would look a lot more lively in the second half, more than doubling their two chances from the first half. Canada, meanwhile, would continue to struggle to break down Tony Popovic’s side from wide areas, being boxed out by the physically-strong Australian back five.

It started with wide option Irankunda linking up with striker Mohamed Touré. Irankunda’s cut back was square to Touré, but Crépeau and the Canadians would escape after the shot was fired over. into the stands.

Koné found time to fire a quick shot at Izzo, but just over 15 minutes later, with Canada still flagging in energy levels, Australia would come again with the Irankunda-Touré connection. Yet again, Touré would put an attempt up and over the crossbar.

That chance was followed up moments later by skipper Alessandro Circati who also lined up a missed Canadian clearance, only to send it into the night sky behind Crépeau. Two substitutes linked up to create the play, with Lewis Miller sliding a pass to Jacob Shaffelburg’s Nashville teammate Patrick Yazbek, who backheeled the pass through the Canadian backline to Circati.

The Aussies would finally break through in the 71st minute, much to the disdain of Canadian supporters. Touré, this time, would beat a fresh-on-the-pitch Luc De Fougerolles and turn provider to Irankunda. Niko Sigur, looking to play patiently inside his own 18-yard box, was burned for his inexperience by Irankunda, with the Australian sliding through the Burnaby native to snag his third goal for Australia.

It also stung hard as Canada had, just moments before, provided their opposition with their own scare. Though Izzo might not have known everything about it, the shotstopper was able to keep the ball from cannoning off an Australia body and into the back of the net as Promise tried to apply a quick-reaction finish.

Marsch inserted Oluwaseyi and Liam Millar after Irankunda’s goal, but despite owning 60% of possession and having 17 total shots by the end of the night, the additional attacking bodies further compounded Canada’s struggles to link the defence to the attack.

Tempers flared in stoppage time, with some extras between Joel Waterman and Irankunda, though it was MLS-ers Richie Laryea and Aidan O’Neill who were each booked minutes earlier.

A late cross from Millar snuck through to Shaffelburg, but the winger was again stopped by Izzo, who failed to put a glove wrong on the night. Oluwaseyi also came close in the final embers, tipping a header off the inside of the post — the ball bouncing clear for Australia to hook away as full-time officially came and went.

Canada, for all the post-mortem thoughts on lacking a true alternative to playing wide and direct, will have a chance to restore the good vibes of September against Colombia. Already guaranteed a spot at next year’s World Cup, Los Cafeteros nearly doubled Venezuela’s possession numbers in a 6-3 win to close out September, and will pose a different — and much more familiar — challenge on Tuesday.