The Round 19 encounter between Perth Glory and Melbourne City was one that denied all footballing logic. Here are the main talking points from one of the most exciting A-League Women games seen in a long time.
Milestones and firsts
Much of the attention going into this game centred around Kim Carroll as the veteran Perth Glory defender announced her retirement earlier in the week. This provided the opportunity for the Glory faithful to cheer Kim on in her last ever home game, and undoubtedly had an impact on her teammates as there seemed to be a little more effort than usual when keeping the opposition out. Carroll was an important part of this as she produced a performance in her 156th game that was as good as the previous 155.
There was also a Melbourne City milestone with Melissa Barbieri playing in her 100th A-League Women game. Barbieri captained the Matildas side (including Kim Carroll) that won the 2010 Asian Cup, and both have been fantastic servants to the game.
Sadie Lawrence scored her first ever A-League Women goal, 14 years after making her Glory debut (surely this is a record?), and City’s Julia Grosso scored her first A-League Women goal in the 91st minute. Finally, Hannah Wilkinson notched up a milestone when her 74th minute goal made her Melbourne City’s outright leading goal scorer.
Possession counts for nothing
Usually, a team that has 32 shots and enjoys 64% possession wins a game, especially when leading in the 70th minute. However, on Sunday these stats counted for nothing as Glory managed to score four goals with their seven shots and 36% possession.
The key to the numbers is how they convert to goals and on this count Glory were on top. Melbourne, for all their neat and intricate passing in the first half, were only one goal up thanks to a goalkeeping error and in any football game a one goal lead is never comfortable – that was clearly demonstrated on Sunday.
Perth Glory need Cyera Hintzen
In 2021/22 Glory fans were denied the opportunity to see the American striker in the flesh as COVID kept the team away from Perth. This season they have been treated to watching one of the league’s best centre forwards cause problems for every team visiting the West. With her knee heavily strapped due to a “niggle” (as described by Glory coach Alex Epakis), Hintzen wasn’t introduced until the hour mark, but her impact was almost immediate.
Hintzen brought some much needed hold up play for Glory and her direct running forced the Melbourne defence to drop deeper. She provided the assist for Lowry’s goal, scored one herself and now leads the league in assists with seven. Her six goals for the season are also the highest in the club and she is in the running to win Glory’s Golden Boot for the second season running.
Epakis will be desperate to get Hintzen on the pitch in the remaining two games and even though she may not be able to give 90 minutes, she showed on Sunday that she is capable of turning a game at any stage.
Goalkeepers turning games
In her 100th A-League Women game, Barbieri would be the first to admit that her attempted clearance in the 71st minute was not the best. The ball went straight to Glory’s Kiwi striker Hannah Blake, who sent it straight back over the keeper’s head and into the net, giving the home side a most improbable lead.
Earlier, the usually reliable Perth Glory keeper Sarah Langman produced a rare moment of poor handling and gifted the opening goal to Rhianna Pollicina. At the time this looked like it would be the catalyst for a comfortable City win.
Both keepers were injured during this game. Whilst Barbieri would have little chance to atone for her error as her team stayed on the front foot, Langman was called into action on multiple occasions in a frantic last 10 minutes and denied City a share of the points.
Glory needs a 90 minute performance
In their last four games, Glory has yet to show they are capable of producing a full 90 minute performance. They dropped points against Western Sydney in the last 10 minutes, gave up a 1-0 second half lead against Adelaide to lose 2-1, spent nearly 70 minutes desperately defending a one goal lead against Wellington and were completely outplayed for 70 minutes on Sunday.
With all the excitement and adrenaline still flowing after this remarkable game, Epakis would no doubt have been informing his players that they still need to win their two remaining away games if they want to sneak into the finals. A performance such as yesterday’s is not the way to go about securing a top four spot.
Currently three points away from Melbourne Victory and Canberra United (while also trailing Melbourne City by four points), Glory need to gain all six points on offer in the last two matches and hope two of the three teams above them drop points.
If they don’t play for the full 90 minutes against a Sydney side harbouring hopes of a Premiership themselves, then the task could well be beyond them by the time they play Brisbane in the final game of the season.
