Perth Glory maintained their charge for an unlikely maiden W-League title with a comprehensive 3-0 win against in-form Western Sydney Wanderers, while champions Canberra United stumbled for the second successive week.
The Glory, boosted by the return of star trio Lisa De Vanna, Collette McCallum and Kate Gill from Matildas' duty, turned in a clinical performance to overturn a defeat against the same opponent a month ago, which remains their only loss to date.
First-half goals from Marianna Tabain and Gill gave the Glory a comfortable buffer at halftime in warm condition in Perth.
The one-way traffic continued after the interval with Gill guilty of missing several goalscoring opportunities, before McCallum polished a fine performance from the home side by netting with a classy free-kick from 20 metres.
The win leaves Perth two points clear of second-placed Sydney FC, with the Glory having never previously secured a top-four finals berth in the four-year history of the league.
Now, with five wins from six starts, the Glory have the opportunity to further test their championship credentials when they visit Canberra on Wednesday in a postponed fixture.
A dramatic late strike from Sydney FC's Emma Kete saw the W-League's match of the round decided by the final kick of the game for the second week running.
The New Zealand international's last-gasp winner ensured champions Canberra United suffered a second successive defeat, with the team from the nation's capital having previously been on an 18-match unbeaten run.
The two sides defied oppressive humidity at Leichhardt Oval to turn on a remarkable seven-goal thriller.
Despite dominating lengthy periods of the match, Sydney - who had never previously conceded more than one goal against Canberra - were twice pegged back, while captain Kyah Simon saw her penalty saved by United goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold.
Simon redeemed herself by successfully converting a second penalty in the latter stages, before setting up former Canberra striker Kete for the match-winner in the 4-3 victory.
Two-time champions Brisbane Roar survived a scare against struggling Newcastle Jets before securing a hard-fought 3-2 win.
The Jets, with only one win all season, led at the break through Tori Huster, before goals from Emily Gielnik, Any Chapman and a Clare Polkinghorne winner 10 minutes from the end sealed all three points for the visiting Roar.
Melbourne Victory claimed a club record 5-0 win when they routed bottom side Adelaide United on Saturday.
American striker Jessica McDonald led the way with a double as the Victory raced to a four-goal advantage within the opening 50 minutes.
Adelaide coach David Edmondson was sent from the bench late in the match for dissent to cap a miserable afternoon for the home side.
No comments:
Post a Comment