Western Sydney Wanderers 0-1 Melbourne City
by Alice de Koster-Kitto (25/1/25)
Above: Melbourne City (sky blue) and Western Sydney Wanderers contest possession today. Photo: Melbourne City.
Melbourne City have maintained their excellent campaign in a well-fought 1-0 victory against Western Sydney Wanderers and Wanderers Football Park on Saturday.
The fixture was set to be an exciting match-up, with the two sides currently sitting at opposite ends of the ladder. Melbourne City went into the game in second while Western Sydney Wanderers were at the bottom of the ladder.
Despite this disparity, and City clearly having the upper hand, the match was fairly even for the majority of play. Western Sydney displayed strength in their defensive structure that hasn’t been seen yet this season, putting pressure on the visitors.
The first real chance came from the hosts in the 3rd minute, with an excellent run from Ella Buchanan, who didn’t quite have the footing behind it to open the scoring.
Western Sydney continued their streak of shots, with another good strike from Danika Matos, who couldn’t find the back of the net.
The scoring was opened in the 14th minute by Holly McNamara, assisted by Mariana Speckmaier. The goal was a momentous one, as the match marks McNamara’s first start in over a year, following her third anterior cruciate ligament injury. The 22-year-old remains the top scorer in this fixture and has further proven her importance to Melbourne City’s squad.
Although City’s lead inspired the visitors to put pressure on the Wanderers’ defence, the hosts maintained their dominance in terms of shots on target and continued to make tactical plays in dangerous areas throughout the remainder of the first half. The visitors remained ahead at the break.
Following an ankle injury at the end of the first half, Western Sydney’s Sienna Saveska was taken off at half-time, making way for Ena Harada, who made an instant impact on the pitch, involving herself in several great opportunities, that looked to be propelling the Wanderers towards an equaliser.
The match remained fairly even overall throughout the second half. Melbourne City continued to move with a sense of cohesion, while Western Sydney remained dominant in the attacking end, making it quite difficult to tell where the next goal would come from, if at all.
Lourdes Bosch found Holly McNamara well in the 48th minute, giving McNamara an excellent chance to net her second goal of the match, however, the strike was just wide of goal.
Just minutes after her strike, Holly McNamara made way for defender Karly Rostbakken, causing some reshuffling within the City squad, that would ultimately strengthen their defence, making the Wanderers attempt to dismantle their backline, increasingly difficult.
As stoppage time approached, the pitch became a place of greater intensity, when Western Sydney was momentarily left down a player, as Sophie Harding was taken off with injury. Cushla Rue and Bronte Trew made their way onto the pitch shortly after the disruption and quickly amended any uncertainty within the Wanderers side.
Cushla Rue made the first attempt from either side in quite some time, shortly after coming onto the pitch, however, the attempt was off target. Despite the miss, Rue’s shot picked up the momentum of the match, as both sides desperately searched for a second goal.
A chance from Leticia McKenna in the 67th minute got the visitors dangerously close to a second goal, however, a deflection from Shamarin Khamis, kept the score as it was.
Despite Western Sydney’s best efforts in the closing stages, it was City who took another set of three points.
The victory has extended City’s impeccable campaign this season and will send them into next weekend’s top-of-the-table match-up against Melbourne Victory at home, with confidence as they try to maintain their top place ranking.
Western Sydney Wanderers will head to Ironbark Fields to face Western United during round 14. Although Western United would be expected to come out on top of that matchup, the Wanderers showed a defensive effort and squad cohesion today that has been missing from their side so far this season.
Kris Goman’s EXCLUSIVE photo gallery from the match for Impetus is now on our Instagram page @ImpetusFootball.
Teams: WESTERN SYDNEY WANDERERS (4-3-3): Khamis, Matos, Lobo, Harrison, Buchanan, Chessari, Price, Bennett, Younis, Harding, Saveska. Substitutes: Segavcic, Ferris, Trew, Rue, Harada.
MELBOURNE CITY (4-2-2-2): Mieres, Apostolakis, Stott, Otto, Vlajnic, Davidson, Hughes, McKenna, Speckmaier, Bosch, McNamara. Substitutes: Barbieri, Roestbakken, Pollicina, McMahon, Murray.
Scorers: McNamara 14′.
Referee: Bec Mackie.
Attendance: 634.
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