Melbourne City returned to the top of the Ninja A-League table thanks to a comfortable 2-0 win over Western Sydney Wanderers on Saturday afternoon.
Mariana Speckmaier continued her great record at AAMI Park with a goal in the first half, before Alexia Apostolakis netted a late free-kick to double the scoreline.
Team News
Michael Matricciani was forced into two changes from his Unite Round XI that drew with Sydney FC last Sunday.
Leticia McKenna came back into the line-up in place of Leah Davidson (international duty), while Bryleeh Henry also returned to the XI.
Lourdes Bosch was absent from the matchday squad due to a minor quad strain picked up last weekend.
Starting XI: 24. Malena MIERES (GK), 8. Alexia APOSTOLAKIS, 13. Rebekah STOTT (C), 5. Taylor OTTO, 16. Karly ROESTBAKKEN, 14. Laura HUGHES, 6. Leticia McKENNA, 10. Rhianna POLLICINA, 22. Bryleeh HENRY, 17. Mariana SPECKMAIER, 7. Kathryn HARVEY.
Substitutes: 23. Melissa BARBIERI (GK), 12. Shelby MCMAHON, 15. Kiera MEYERS, 20. Caitlin KARIC, 21. Isabella ACCARDO.
What happened?
The first half belonged to Speckmaier, who on another day could’ve bagged a hattrick well before the teams headed for the sheds.
She hit both uprights and the crossbar all within the first half hour, often combining with Kathryn Harvey down the right-hand side as City dominated the first half hour.
McKenna was assured in the middle of the park in her return to the lineup, ensuring the back four behind her was rarely called into action.
It was the Harvey-Speckmaier combination again proving to be a threat as we edged towards first half stoppage time.
A dangerous Harvey cross came in from the right and Speckmaier showed her football IQ and let it run before trying a backheel, only to see her effort spectacularly saved in the 40th minute.
Two minutes later Harvey slid in another wonderful ball through midfield and the Venezuelan perfectly timed her run, taking a touch and tucking home the opener.
The second half continued to follow a similar pattern to the first, City’s defence looking solid, the midfield controlling the tempo and the attacking third functioning well.
Malena Mieres enjoyed a relatively comfortable afternoon between the sticks enroute to her first Ninja A-League clean sheet, looking assured whenever called upon.
A couple of injury stoppages saw added time balloon out to 10 minutes, but any chance of an unlikely Wanderers comeback was squashed in the 94th.
Alexia Apostolakis was a surprise set-piece taker for much of the second half and it paid dividends. Her attacking free kick looked good off the boot but collected the wall, only to balloon up and into the back of the net anyway.
There was little to note from the dying stages as the final whistle would eventually come, confirming our return to the top of the table.
What’s next?
An extended break is ahead with the split round meaning we put our feet up next weekend.
We’ll next host Canberra United at AAMI Park as part of another doubleheader on Sunday 15 December. Click here to get your tickets!
