After 419 days, the Westfield W-League saw a weekend that ended one of the longest unbeaten stretches in Australia when Canberra United returned from their trip with a 2-1 victory over Melbourne City FC. Elsewhere in the table, City's neighbours, Melbourne Victory earned a crucial draw against the Western Sydney Wanderers to keep in touch with the rest of the table.
18-game streak ends for Melbourne City
Melbourne City are without a doubt, the W-League's premier team and their 18-game unbeaten streak has matched that expectation. On Saturday however, one team that could potentially challenge City for the title sent out a warning shot as Canberra United picked a big 2-1 win over the league leaders in Melbourne. Canberra defender Jenna McCormick got things started in the 49th minute when she met a delivery from a corner kick and powered her effort of the underside of the crossbar and into the goal.
City were not down for long and new signing Beverly Yanez found the equalizer with a superb finish after a great run and cross by Jess Fishlock in the 53rd minute as the two Seattle Reign FC players found their connection quickly for their new team. There was more to come as 15-year old substitute Karly Roestbakken found the winner for Canberra in the 83rd minute. Roestbakken not only helped her team win all three points but she also became the second youngest ever goal scorer in the W-League at 15 years and 10 months.
City remain at the top of the league due to goal difference and having played a game less than their rivals while Canberra are now in third, two points away from their opponents. Many will look back at the performance of Canberra's Lydia Williams as to why Melbourne City could not get at least a point this weekend. Williams was in impeccable form and justified her recent 2016 PFA Women's Player of the Year award. Ashleigh Sykes was also dangerous up top for Canberra and caused Melbourne all sorts of trouble all match long. For City, Yanez' quick adjustment to the league will please their coaching staff and if she carries her National Women's Soccer League form with her to Australia then they will a potent striker on their hands as they chase a second title in as many years.
Western Sydney leave it late to pick up a point against the Victory
Of all the teams that needed points this weekend, Melbourne Victory would probably top that list so their 2-2 draw against the Western Sydney Wanderers may not have been the three points that they wanted to get off the bottom of the W-League table but it will certainly help them build momentum. For the Wanderers, their last gasp heroics will also give them some self-belief to move further up the table from their current seventh place position and push for a playoff spot.
The Victory started off well as Wanderer's defender Angelique Hristodoulou scored an own goal in the second minute after turning Annabel Martin cross into her own net. Six minutes later, Western Sydney earned themselves a penalty which Katie Stengel stepped up to take. Melbourne's Bethany Mason-Jones then made a fine save on that penalty to keep the Victory in the lead going into half-time. After the restart, the Wanderers started quickly to try and level up the game and Paige Nielsen could only watch as her effort was cleared off the line by the Victory defenders. Western Sydney continued to push and got their reward in the 61st minute when substitute Sarah Yatim pounced on some confusion in the box and scored the equalizer for the Wanderers. Another substitute, this time for the Victory, Kariah White then gave the home side the lead in the 84th minute when her cross became a shot and flew into the top corner of the goal. As had been the case for most of this game, the back-and-forth flow of action continued between the two teams and in stoppage time, Stengel redeemed herself by getting the equalizer for the Wanderers when she was put through on goal and finished easily past Mason-Jones.
Kerr helps Perth edge out Sydney FC
The other teams fighting for a spot in the playoffs are the Perth Glory and Sydney FC. This time out, Perth ended up the victors as they found the only goal of the game to win 1-0 over Sydney FC. Sydney now find themselves in second place, level on points with Melbourne City but having played one game more than the league leaders while Perth are in fourth and only two points off the top after their win this weekend.
Sam Kerr scored the only goal of the game in the 18th minute after Shawn Billam had sent her through with a great pass. Kerr wasted no time with her effort and rocketed her shot into the top corner to give the home side the lead. Bar some poor finishing from Kerr herself and the rest of her teammates, the score line could have been much bigger as Sydney could not cope with the explosive attack that Perth displayed this weekend. Some last ditch defending and some good goalkeeping also kept the score line down for Sydney FC as Elizabeth Ralston, Alanna Kennedy and Teresa Polias had to be at their very best to keep the likes of Kerr and Vanessa DiBernardo at bay for the entire game.
Brisbane finish as winners after 3-2 thriller with Adelaide
The last match of the round saw the Brisbane Roar host Adelaide United in one of the ties of the weekend if goals is what you are after. Goals from Katrina Gorry, Tameka Butt and Allira Toby gave the hosts a 3-0 lead going into the early part of the second half with Gorry being the pick of the players once again for Brisbane due to her creativity and attacking intent. Adelaide were not to be outdone this weekend and Adriana Jones started off their fight back in the 59th minute with a well taken goal. Sofia Huerta then added a second for Adelaide in the 74th minute as the visitors began to pour forward in an effort to salvage a goal from the game. Although Adelaide continued to fight back, ultimately they did not have enough to find the third goal that would give them at least a point from this round and 3-2 was how it ended.
Brisbane are in sixth place after six matches, level on ten points with Canberra and Perth having played a game more than the latter while Adelaide are still second-last with two points so far this season.