Melbourne Victory 0-0 Melbourne City
By Emma Burke 15/2/26
Above: Rachel Lowe pressures Karly Roestbakken. Photo: Melbourne City
Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City have drawn in the Melbourne derby for only the second time in their history, with neither team finding the back of the net on a hot afternoon at the Home of the Matildas.
The final game for Round 17 was not without its big chances, but neither Melbourne side could make them count.
The home side’s best chance of the first half came through Holly Furphy, who made the most of a pass from Kennedy White releasing her down the right flank. An imperfect interception on White’s pass by Alexia Apostolakis left Furphy to pounce on the ball and utilise all of her speed to pass Apostolakis and eventually get a shot off.
Taken on a very tight angle, the ball slid just past the far post and out, leaving the scores still level before half time.
Melbourne City had a few good chances on goal, one where Leticia McKenna was in one-on-one with Courtney Newbon in goal, but McKenna took her chance too quickly, only managing to poke the ball at Newbon, who collected with ease.
Another scoring opportunity came to City through Aideen Keane, who was once again full of running and positive attacking play.
Keane managed to shoot from outside the box, driving the ball in low with a lot of power behind it. While it looked like the ball was going to squeeze through and cross the line, Newbon was able to fall on top of it and make the save.
Both teams came into this match looking to come away with all three points, which could have provided City with a buffer at the top of the table against Wellington Phoenix who trail them in second place, or could have helped Victory back into the top six.
They’ll both be looking to bounce back from the draw next week when Victory host Wellington Phoenix, and City travel to play Central Coast Mariners for Round 18.
Melbourne Victory (4-5-1): Newbon, Pickett, Bunge, Morrison, Blissett, Furphy, Pollicina, Ray, Lowe, Sakalis, White Substitutes: O’Grady, Maher, Curtis, Woodward, Jancevski, Saveska
Melbourne City (3-5-2): Mieres, Roestbakken, Otto, Turner, Henry, McMahon, Apostolakis, McKenna, Keane, McNamara, Jackson Substitutes: Karic, Uchendu, Jugovic, Butrus, Barbieri, Davidson.
Referee: Sophie Allum.
Attendance: 1,566.
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