Western Sydney Wanderers 1-0 Melbourne City
By Kieran Yap 15/1/24
Above: Wanderers players celebrate their goal against Melbourne City. Photo: Western Sydney Wanderers.
Western Sydney Wanderers delivered a statement to the rest of the competition with a 1-0 win against league leaders Melbourne City. The result see’s them leap into the top four and continues an impressive run of form that has seen them slowly become one of the sides to watch this season.
Holly Caspers’s 67th minute strike was the only goal of the game, but it was not a dull affair. Both sides set out to attack, albeit in very different styles.
Melbourne City set up in their familiar formation, with Leticia Mckenna returning to attacking midfield and looked to keep possession, build attacks and create high percentage chances. The Wanderers continued to make the most of the explosive pace of Sophie Harding and Maliah Morris on the counterattack.
Western Sydney’s game is based around more than just waiting for opportunities. They have developed a way of creating them through forcing errors and turnovers. The move of brilliant young defender Alexia Apostolakis to midfield has helped create an early line of defence and made it much more difficult for teams to pass their way through the middle.
Melbourne City are still Melbourne City, and although the Wanderers were set up to deal with their style of play, the visitors still had plenty of joy and created enough chances to win the game. Daniela Galic continued her eye catching form as a wide attacker, and she linked up with Mckenna to create one of the best chances of the first half. Galic’s pass to the overlapping midfielder was perfectly timed and Mckenna’s whipped in ball created havoc that almost resulted in an own goal.
Emina Ekic almost opened the scoring in the next attack when her shot crashed off the woodwork following buildup between Galic and Hannah Wilkinson.
The Wanderers brought the best out of Lysianne Proulx in the City goal with a stinging shot from Morris that was spectacularly palmed away.
The second half saw much the same patter, but City were given their best chance to win the match with a penalty kick. Pollicina is usually deadly from the spot but her shot was saved by a diving Kaylie Collins.
The winning goal came from both teams playing to their strengths, but the Wanderers winning the moment. Proulx attempted to play the ball out from the back, and Holly Caspers cut off the pass before chipping the backpedalling goalkeeper.
The Wanderers had set up their press intelligently and left the space open in the middle, inviting the pass and ready to cut it off.
The finish was classy, but the trap was perfectly executed and the Wanderers mobbed their playmaker in celebration for her first of the season.
The win puts Western Sydney in fourth, and may provide a roadmap to stopping the seemingly runaway Melbourne City. However, just because you know what they will do, does not mean that you can stop them.
Western Sydney were able to on this occasion and deserved the win, but City will be ruing their missed chances too.
Teams:
Western Sydney Wanderers 3-4-3: Collins (GK), McComansky, Harrison, Bruce, Rue, Apostolakis, Price, Matos, Caspers, Morris, Harding
Scorer: Caspers 67’
Melbourne City 4-3-3: Proulx, Torpey, Stott, Otto, Grosso, Ekic, Pollicina, Hughes, Galic, Mckenna, Wilkinson.
Referee: Isabella Blaess
Attendance: TBC
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