Melbourne City remains top of the Ninja A-League table at Christmas following another strong performance away to Adelaide.
Mariana Speckmaier set the tone with a goal just 26 seconds into the contest, Tyla-Jay Vlajnic joining her on the scoresheet later in the first half following an Adelaide equaliser.
Holly McNamara’s first goal since returning from an ACL injury put an exclamation mark on what was our third win in a row as we continue a strong start to the season.
Team News
While not quite the chaos we saw last week with several late withdrawals due to illness, Michael Matricciani elected to make three changes to his XI for what was a slightly shorter turnaround than usual.
Melissa Barbieri was named between the sticks for her first appearance of the season, while Tyla-Jay Vlajnic and Lourdes Bosch both returned to the lineup.
Starting XI: 23. Melissa BARBIERI (GK), 8. Alexia APOSTOLAKIS, 13. Rebekah STOTT (C), 5. Taylor OTTO, 27. Tyla-Jay VLAJNIC, 18. Leah DAVIDSON, 14. Laura HUGHES, 6. Leticia McKENNA, 19. Lourdes BOSCH, 17. Mariana SPECKMAIER, 7. Kathryn HARVEY.
Substitutes: 24. Malena MIERES (GK), 9. Holly McNAMARA, 10. Rhianna POLLICINA, 16. Karly ROESTBAKKEN, 22. Bryleeh HENRY.
What happened?
The phrase ‘dream start’ gets thrown around a bit in football, but the first 30 seconds of this clash was about as good a representation of one as you’ll ever see.
City went forward from kick-off with Leah Davidson finding Speckmaier on the left. The Venezuelan international made it look easy, comfortably stepping around a defender before curling a finish just inside the far post.
Unfortunately though our lead evaporated seven minutes later when a mixup at the back saw the ball roll into our own net – a similar story to the goal we saw in last weekend’s Men’s clash against Auckland.
Despite being back on level terms, our City Women kept their heads high and took control of proceedings.
Taylor Otto and Alexia Apostolakis led the way from the back, while Leah Davidson was as industrious as ever in midfield.
It may not have come in the way we expected, but our hard work eventually paid off just a few minutes before the half-time whistle.
An attacking move looked to be dead and buried when Kathryn Harvey put too much on her cross and the ball trickled out of the box to the left wing, a waiting Vlajnic tracking it closely.
The Serbian international hit it towards the area and whether it was intended to be a cross or a shot… we doubt any City fan watching on from home was complaining as it sailed into the far top corner.
A similar pattern played out across the second half, Michael Matricciani turning to his bench on the hour mark to introduce Bryleeh Henry.
His next change 10 minutes later was the one that would make a big impact though, both Holly McNamara and Rhianna Pollicina entering the pitch following a drinks break in the warm Adelaide weather.
After being denied by the upright on her return from injury last week, McNamara saw her luck change this time around.
A Barbieri goal kick in the 74th minute was expertly clipped forward by Henry, McNamara then showing she hasn’t lost any of her pace, breaking through the Adelaide defence with ease.
Dribbling her way to 1-on-1 with the goalkeeper, our number 9’s delicate finish hit the inside of the woodwork and nestled into the back of the net to make it 3-1.
Vlajnic went close to her second of the day late in the contest, but the final whistle would eventually sound to spell another strong victory for our City Women.
What’s next?
We’ll return home following Christmas to host Wellington Phoenix at the ctrl:cyber Pitch on Saturday 28 December.
Don’t miss seeing our City girls back in action in Melbourne! Click here to get your tickets.
