The only thing hotter than the temperature across most of Australia this week was the football! Here’s Beyond90’s look back at the weekend that was across the W-League.
Melbourne City 1 Perth Glory 0
Melbourne City’s undefeated start to the season rolled on with a 1-0 victory over Perth Glory at ABD Stadium.
A rare Rebekah Stott goal was enough to see Rado Vidošić’s side maintain top spot on the table. A stunning free kick from Steph Catley almost found the back of the net on its own but the underside of the bar denied her. Kyah Simon headed the ball back towards the goal and Stott butterfly kissed it past Eliza Campbell.
With Lauren Barnes managing an injury, City reverted to a back four for the opening half. Though they created plenty of chances they lacked that clinical edge.
Both sides’ best chances of the half came from distance. For the home side, there was Emily van Egmond with her ferociously hit set-piece veering just wide of a diving Campbell. For the away team, a turnover moved from left to right with Morgan Andrews eventually unleashing a shot which had Lydia Williams scrambling to her right.
The introduction of Barnes for the second half and the consequent reshuffling to a back five saw City’s wingbacks more involved. City pushed for a second with long-range efforts from Kyah Simon – in her 100th game – and Claire Emslie forcing Campbell to fly through the air but to no avail.
Western Sydney Wanderers 5 Sydney FC 0
There was a slice of W-League history in the Friday evening fixture. The Wanderers broke their 1,881 day drought in the Sydney Derby with a comprehensive victory, a result which means they are now undefeated in five games for the first time.
https://twitter.com/wswanderersfc/status/1207908118375489537
Dean Heffernan’s side sprinted out of the blocks, and former Sky Blue Amy Harrison opened the scoring in the fourth minute with a neat strike from inside the area. Two minutes later, Kyra Cooney-Cross doubled her side’s lead with a simple finish after sensational build-up play from Denise O’Sullivan and Lynn Williams. Cooney-Cross then made it three in spectacular fashion just before the interval, controlling a short pass from O’Sullivan and whipping the ball into the net from 25 yards out.
The Wanderers didn’t ease up in the second half, continuing to pepper the Sydney FC goal and forcing a couple of excellent saves from Aubrey Bledsoe. Just under a quarter of an hour remained when Williams scored the fourth following some excellent work from her North Carolina Courage teammate Kristen Hamilton, and it was 5-0 in the 87th minute after Cooney-Cross sent Williams racing towards goal, the American international dribbling past Bledsoe and finding the empty net.
Melbourne Victory 0 Brisbane Roar 0
The points were shared at Epping Stadium in Melbourne’s north as Victory and Brisbane played out a scoreless draw in a rescheduled fixture on Saturday morning. With temperatures in the Victorian capital hovering above 40ºC on Friday evening, league officials postponed kick-off until the following day, allowing the match to be played in somewhat more comfortable conditions.
The home side dominated the opening exchanges, with winger Darian Jenkins firing straight at Brisbane keeper Mackenzie Arnold from just inside the area on 20 minutes after a mistake by defender Natalie Tathem gave Victory possession in broken play.
Brisbane slowly grew into the match as the half progressed, and almost had an opening goal after some neat work by Hayley Raso, the winger spinning away from two defenders on the edge of the box before flicking delightfully to Rylee Baisden whose close-range shot forced a smart save from the in-form Casey Dumont.
Dumont was once again called on to save her team’s blushes midway through the second half with a magnificent double save, first parrying Baisden’s fierce first-time at her near post before recovering from a tackle attempt to smother Hollie Palmer‘s rasping drive from the edge of the area.
Melbourne skipper Natasha Dowie had a chance to seal her side’s first win in a month in the final minutes after a poor first touch from Clare Polkinghorne allowed her in on goal, but her effort was too weak to trouble Arnold who simply welcomed it with open arms to seal a point apiece.
Adelaide United 1 Canberra United 2
A Christmas miracle was just out of reach for Adelaide United, with a late consolation goal from substitute Emily Condon not enough to cancel out a clinical Canberra United. Leena Khamis opened her account for the side from the Capital, while another impact player from the bench, Hayley Taylor-Young provided the second required for an away side win.
Possession held in abundance for the Reds was met with steely resistance of Canberra United centre backs. While Mary Fowler and Lais Araujo struggled to connect through the centre, up the other end Canberra had no such problem with the opening goal. Olivia Price picked out Khamis, who was in space in prime real estate. Showing no hesitation, Khamis put her side ahead against the run of play early in the match.
.@Leena_Khamis moves to 5th on the all-time scorers list with a cracker 💥#ADLvCBR #WLeague
🎥: @FOXFOOTBALL pic.twitter.com/9LzCGxONJZ
— Liberty A-League (@aleaguewomen) December 22, 2019
The end-to-end action of the first half simmered to Canberra sitting in their half, soaking up Adelaide’s pressure like a sponge to then spring a quick counter. It worked for the away side, with Taylor-Young proving the missing ingredient to seal a two goal buffer from a clinical finish within chaos off the corner late in the game.
Signs of a late fight back was on for the Reds, when Mallory Weber picked out Condon just outside the mixer. The midfielder producing the much needed clinical finish, but unfortunately not enough to earn any points on the board.
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