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The race for a spot in the 2024/25 Finals Series continued this past weekend as Round 16 of the Ninja A-League unfolded. Of note, Melbourne City were looking to continue their quest for an invincible season as they took on a struggling Sydney FC.
With the pressure mounting and little margin for error, here’s a breakdown of what went down across Australia.
Western Sydney Wanderers 4-1 Newcastle Jets
Western Sydney climbed out from the bottom of the league as they came from behind to smash the Newcastle Jets.
Tash Prior put the visitors ahead after just seven minutes. She was quickest to react to tap the ball home after Cassidy Davis’ shot came back off the post.
Wanderers levelled just before the half-hour mark through a stunning effort from Bronte Trew. Taking Danika Maris’ pass into her stride, Trew drove into the box and let it fly from a seemingly impossible angle to beat Danielle Krzyzaniak.
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Ten minutes later, the hosts were ahead. Ena Harada caught Emma Dundas in possession and smashed home from 25 yards. It was not a bad time for both Trew and Harada to bag their first A-League goals.
With fifteen minutes to go, Western Sydney had the opportunity to give themselves breathing room. Libby Copus-Brown brought down Milly Bennett in the box. The referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot, and Amy Harrison made no mistake to slot the ball past Krzyzaniak.
Holly Caspers iced the Wanderers’ cake a couple of minutes from full-time. She capitalised on a mix-up between Josie Wilson and Krzyzaniak to nip in and poke home.
Adelaide United 1-1 Canberra United
Adelaide and Canberra shared the spoils as Canberra missed the chance to move into the Top Six.
The home side’s efforts to take an early lead were thwarted by some resolute defending and a great save from Sally James to deny Lucía León in a goalmouth scramble from a corner.
Canberra took the lead on the stroke of halftime. Adelaide goalkeeper Claudia Jenkins couldn’t deal with Emma Robers’ corner, and Darcey Malone was on hand to head it in.
Chelsie Dawber drew the Reds level with her seventh goal of the season. A neat pass across the top of the 18-yard box from Fiona Worts teed up her strike partner, who made no mistake with a first-time hit.
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Jenkins made amends with a fine double save with ten minutes to play. She denied Aideen Keane at her feet and then Bethany Gordon. When Jenkins was beaten, her defence were there to clear a third effort off the line.
Deep into injury time, another goal-line clearance denied Adelaide. Matilda McNamara punched her header goalwards from a corner, but Hayley Taylor-Young was there to stop her as both sides had to settle for a point.
Melbourne City 2-1 Sydney FC
Melbourne City remain on track for an unbeaten regular season, but they had to come from behind against Sydney FC.
City got caught trying to pass out from the back in their box. Maddy Caspers dispossessed Laura Hughes, and Mackenzie Hawkesby did the rest to put Sydney a goal up.
The table toppers hadn’t learned their lesson. They were caught out again just two minutes later, but Princess Ibini curled her effort wide.
Mariana Speckmaier equalised for City within the opening seconds of the second half. She got between two Sydney players to win the ball in her half. The AAMI Park pitch opened for the Venezuelan, and she hit an absolute thunderbolt, leaving Beth Mason-Jones with no chance.
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As has so often been the case this season, Sydney had their hearts smashed into a thousand pieces late on. Lourdes Bosch’s pass found Bryleeh Henry, who slid the ball home to seal all three points for Melbourne.
The win sees City move seven points clear of rivals Melbourne Victory. But for Sydney, this latest defeat leaves them rooted to the foot of the table.
Melbourne Victory 2-0 Central Coast Marines
The Victory moved back up to second after an impressive win over the Mariners.
Jade Pennock and Brooke Nunn combined to near perfection in the opening two minutes for the visitors. Nunn’s dinked pass for Pennock allowed the on-loan Birmingham forward to get a shot away, but goalkeeper Courtney Newbon denied her well.
Victory broke the deadlock after ten minutes. Alana Murphy’s through ball found Emily Gielnik. The ex-Aston Villa player raced away to bag her eighth goal of the season.
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At the end of the first half, Gielnik had the chance to double the lead from the spot. The opportunity came after Jess Seaman fouled Rachel Lowe, but Gielnik blazed the ball over the goal.
In the second minute of first-half stoppage time, the home side got their second. Annalise Rasmussen headed Murphy’s corner away only as far as Alex Chidiac. Victory’s number 10 took the shot on first time, and it found its way through a forest of yellow shirts and into the net.
The Mariners went close to setting up a grandstand finish late in the second half. A well-worked free-kick routine between Taylor Ray and Pennock saw the Englishwoman again denied by a good save from Newbon.
Brisbane Roar 0-0 Western United
At the end of December, these two sides played out a scarcely believable game that saw Brisbane demolish Western 8-2 away from home. But the reverse fixture played out much differently.
Roar goalkeeper Olivia Sekany was at full stretch to deny Aimee Medwin and Chloe Logarzo in the opening fifteen minutes from distance.
Evdokiya Popadinova went close for the home side, but she couldn’t convert Tamika Yallop’s cross at the back post.
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Western looked the most likely of the sides to open the scoring. Logarzo was unmarked in front of goal but could only volley wide with twenty minutes to go.
Adriana Taranto was next to test Sekany, but the American pushed the ball away.
Brisbane thought they’d stolen the points with the last kick of the game. Danielle Tan nicked in to lift the ball over Chloe Lincoln, but the offside flag denied her.
It was a slightly more subdued affair this time around.
Perth Glory 2-1 Wellington Phoenix
Perth put a huge dent in Wellington’s hopes of breaking into the Finals Series as they took the spoils in the Distance Derby.
The Glory made a fast start, Caitlin Doeglas just cleared the bar, and Isobel Dalton saw her effort cannon back off it inside the opening fifteen minutes.
Dalton eventually made the breakthrough the hosts deserved after 31 minutes. A poor clearance from Nix keeper Carolina Vilão allowed Perth to win the ball back. Dalton picked the ball up and played a neat one-two with Sarah O’Donoghue. Dalton finished calmly into the bottom corner for her second of the season.
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On the stroke of halftime, Olivia Fergusson levelled for Wellington. She smartly finished Annalie Longo’s pinpoint through ball past Miranda Templeman.
Wellington very nearly went into the break ahead. This time, it was another Longo pass that found Manaia Elliott, who was unlucky to see her shot clip the bar and go behind.
Perth sealed a fourth win of the season through an own goal. The unfortunate Tiana Jaber turned the ball into her own net after Megan Wynne set it across the face of goal.
