Melbourne City 1 – Sydney FC 0
By Emma Burke 4/1/2026
Above: Melbourne City celebrate with Chinaza Uchendu after the striker scored against Sydney FC. Photo: via the A-Leagues
Melbourne City’s Chinaza Uchendu made the difference for her side in their 1-0 win over Sydney FC, taking the team up to second on the league table.
Uchendu’s goal, her first in the Ninja A-League, came through a long ball from City captain Rebekah Stott which found the head of Holly McNamara.
McNamara’s header tipped the ball onto the run of Uchendu who then did enough to beat her close trailing defender and Sydney goalkeeper Heather Hinz.
A stand-out performance was also had by City keeper Malena Mieres, who had one of her best appearances for the side to date.
Mieres made a series of crucial saves across the 90 minutes to preserve her team’s clean sheet and keep Sydney at bay.
One of these saves came just before half-time, when Sydney’s Hana Lowry found herself in yards of space outside the box. Lowry’s shot was on target for the top left corner of the goal, but Mieres was able to make the diving save and push the ball out of play.
This win also saw the return of Bryleeh Henry, who made her first appearance for City this season after having struggled to overcome a back injury.
For Sydney FC, this result marks their longest streak going scoreless, as the side have now failed to find the back of the net in their last four fixtures.
Melbourne City meanwhile now sit second on the table – just behind Canberra United – but with three games in hand over them.
City will now head over to New Zealand to play the Wellington Phoenix on the 10th of January, while Sydney FC face a slightly tighter turn around, playing hosts to Adelaide United a day earlier.
Teams: MELBOURNE CITY (4-4-2): Mieres, Apostolakis, Stott, Otto, Turner, Keane, McKenna, Davidson, Butrus, Uchendu, McNamara Substitutes: Barbieri, Henry, Roestbakken, Wilson, Jackson, Jugovic
Scorers: Uchendu 52’
Sydney FC (4-3-3): Hinz, Lemon, Pearson, Fenton, Tumeth, Lowry, Hunter, Caspers, Cassar, Halmarick, Ulkekul Substitutes: Robertson, Galic, Tanner, Luchtmeijer, Corbett, Ayson
Referee: Georgia Ghirardello
Attendance: 948.
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