McNamara brace leads to record breaking City win

Melbourne City 4-3 Adelaide United

by Alice de Koster-Kitto (16/3/25)

Above: Celebration time for Melbourne City’s Holly McNamara (sky blue shirt on right) today in their record-breaking win over Adelaide United today. Photo: Melbourne City.

Ctrl:Cyber Pitch saw history made, as Melbourne City broke the record for the most consecutive unbeaten matches in the A-League-Women. The heated and action-packed meeting against Adelaide United marked the home side’s 19th match without a loss.  

There was not a dull moment in this contentious meeting, and it was clear from the first touch, that this was not a game that you would be able to look away from. While Melbourne City were the favourites to win, an aggressive scrap for possession at the start, was the first sign that Adelaide were not backing down from the challenge, and were well and truly in the game, remaining so until the very end. 

Melbourne City opened the scoring just 10 minutes into play, although it remained unclear who would be awarded the goal. When TJ Vlajinic’s set piece landed on the line, there was an extremely close-range battle, which resulted in Holly McNamara and Lourdes Bosch getting the final touch before crossing the line, almost simultaneously. The goal was initially given to McNamara, however, after some evaluation from officials, it was later amended to be Bosches’ goal. 

Adelaide United was quick to respond when a shot from Chelsie Dawber almost resulted in the equaliser, but was ultimately saved in the centre of the goal. 

While Melbourne City remained dominant, and another goal seemed inevitable, it also appeared quite likely that Adelaide would also score, keeping the current table leaders on their toes. 

The hosts lead was extended when Holly McNamara tapped in Bosch’s shot on target, landing City with a 2-0 lead just 27 minutes in. 

Although now two goals behind, Adelaide was not shaken, as their attack and defence remained equally as strong, as they desperately searched for points of their own. 

It was not long after Melbourne’s second goal that the visitors put themselves back in the game, when a battle inside the box saw Ella Tonkin put the ball over the line, earning the Reds their well deserved first goal of the match. 

As halftime approached, the momentum continued to build, with both of these excellent attacking sides determined to maintain their place in the game. In an unfortunate turn for Adelaide United, an own goal from Lucia Leon, saw Melbourne City take back their two-goal lead at the break. 

It wasn’t long until the second half saw its first goal, when a strike from Erin Healy to the bottom left corner, earned Adelaide United their second goal of the match. This was Healy’s seventh of the season, continuing what has been an incredible campaign for the 23-year-old US international.

There was no lack of end-to-end action, as it seemed the intensity only picked up as stoppage time approached, with a slew of great attempts from both sides made for one of the season’s most entertaining and unpredictable matches thus far. 

Melbourne City once again reclaimed their two-goal lead, with McNamara’s second of the afternoon, further cementing her place as a crucial part of this squad. 

Adelaide United were not backing down from the fight and remained very much in the running until the final whistle, as the final minutes of regulation saw a tactical shift from the visitors that did not allow Melbourne City to be comfortable in their lead for very long. 

The final goal of the match came in the 73rd minute saw Zoe Tolland earn her debut Ninja A-League goal. A tight battle inside the box at extremely close range led to several players making a touch, however, it was Tolland’s header that ultimately put it over the line. 

A moment of concern for City came at the 76th minute, when McNamara was replaced by Bryleeh Henry, after receiving medical attention for what seemed to be a cramp, although it was unclear if the substitution was precautionary or if the injury was more serious. 

The intensity remained as high as ever during the final five minutes, giving Adelaide plenty of opportunities to equalise. Despite these several chances, and not through lack of effort, neither side was able to net another goal, leaving the final score as 4-3 to Melbourne City. 

City’s victory has earned them a place in A-League Women history, as they break the record for the most consecutive unbeaten games, with 19. Despite their loss, it is a true testament to the impeccable form Adelaide United have found themselves in recently, that they were able to hold their own against and unsettle the dangerous force that Melbourne has proven themselves to be this season. 

Round 20 of the Ninja A-League will be crucial for both these teams, as they are both set to face top six teams. City will remain home at ctrl:cyber Pitch and face Western United, while Adelaide will head home to Coopers Stadium to take on Brisbane Roar. 

Check out our Instagram feed @impetusfootball to view Impetus’ Adrian Geremia’s photo gallery from the game.

Teams: MELBOURNE CITY (4-2-2-2): Mieres, Apostolakis, Stott, Otto, Vlajnic, Davidson, Hughes, McKenna, Bosch, Speckmaier, McNamara. Substitutions: Barbieri, Henry, McMahon, Pollicina, Roestbakken.

Scorers: Bosch 10’, McNamara 27’, 65’, Leon 41’ (OG).

ADELAIDE UNITED (3-4-3): Jenkins, E. Hodgson, Leon, McNamara, Tonkin, Tolland, Holmes, Sasaki, Condon, Healy, Dawber.  Substitutes: Melegh, Karambasis, Dewey, Morgan, I. Hodgson 

Scorers: Tonkin 33′, Healy 53’, Tolland 73’.

Referee: Izzy Cooper.

Attendance: 323.

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‘We wanted to transform how people saw what was possible’: Australia’s Game Changers reflect on how they redefined what it means to be a woman in sport.

By Alice de Koster-Kitto 16/3/25

Above: Ann Odong speaking at Game Changers. Photo: Anna Kucera/ Cassandra Hannagan. Sydney Opera House.

This past weekend I, along with 200 women’s football fans, attended ‘Game Changers’ as part of the Sydney Opera House’s ‘All About Women’ festival. Designed to celebrate the growth in women’s sports over the recent years, as well as bring awareness to difficult topics within the space that often go unnoticed in these discussions.

The panel brought together a diverse group of women in sport, featuring Matildas veteran goal-keeper, Lydia Williams, Matildas head of PR and Media, Ann Odong, inaugural AFLW Premiership coach Bec Goddard, long-time AFLW player Kirby Bently, and was moderated by renowned broadcaster and journalist Tracey Holmes. 

The sheer diversity of the event, from the speakers to attendees, and their varied opinions, made for an invaluable experience, and one that I personally, will take with me as I move in the world of women’s sport, and as a woman in today’s world. 

Although the issues with diversity and acceptance have been recently highlighted, along with the clear bias that Australian media in particular, has with women’s sports – despite what it can and has done for the country – being in a room with so many empowered women, both on the microphone, and sitting in the crowd, truly highlighted the community that has been built around women’s sport. This was a uniquely empowering experience that has personally brought me a sense of hope in what has been a quite unsettling time in the space. 

These recent ongoing issues were not shied away from during the discussion, and no topic was off-limits. From recent criticisms of the Matildas to the media coverage of Sam Kerr’s recent trial, and addressing comments made by Marty Sheargold, from the perspective of those directly involved. 

It was refreshing to see the range of perspectives throughout the room and to see women so unafraid to stand up for their beliefs, and to say what they meant, making it feel more like a true discussion and meeting of minds, rather than sitting in a room, listening to a talk. 

One of the points made by Odong, which was reinforced by the rest of the panel along with a room of nodding heads, is one that I myself have tried to articulate for some time. That is, the argument of ‘men’s football is better football’ and the concept of parity with the men’s game, is somewhat void, as women’s sport is, and should be, a different product entirely. 

This conversation was the catalyst for a slew of further talking points, including the debate about whether we should strive to achieve equality or equity, and how these two very different goals should be approached very differently.


‘When you’re accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression’ was a sentiment that was echoed throughout the discussion, as the panelists reflected on how and why these industries and the women that have built them, deserve equity over equality, in providing the same opportunities and resources as men in their field while allowing them to select and shape how they use what has been provided to create this unique, yet ultimately just as valuable product.

Quite often there was a dialogue regarding the consumerism of women’s sports, and how the sudden rise in interest in fanfare has led to unrealistic expectations set for female athletes, particularly the Matildas, and the criticism that comes along with this. 

As said by Matildas head of PR and Media Ann Odong, ‘We wanted to transform how people saw what was possible for women and girls’, a sentiment that is reinforced by not only the turnout of this event but by the continued and ever-growing turnout for women’s sports both on and off the pitch. 

With such sudden growth within women’s football and sport in general, alongside the communities that have been built, it can be easy to get caught up in a bubble as a fan,  a player, or a professional and lose sight of how far we do have to go as an industry, and the limitation that is still put upon us. Although the hour was no lack of informative and important conversations that brought light to these issues within the hour, the biggest takeaway from the event, was the validation that people would show up for women’s sports beyond the major tournaments and historic wins, proving that women’s sports always has been, and now more than ever, is much more important than the results on the pitch.  

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Battle of the Blues: Chelsea dismiss City to win League Cup  

Above: Chelsea Captain Millie Bright (centre) lifting the trophy with her teammates Photo: Lauren Kelly for Impetus

Chelsea 2-1 Manchester City 

By Ava-Marianne Elliott at Pride Park for Impetus (15/03/25)

Chelsea emerged victorious in the Subway League Cup Final after defeating Manchester City at Derby County’s Pride Park, winning their first trophy under Sonia Bompastor. 

Since replacing Emma Hayes last year, Bompastor has done exceedingly well in her post. Chelsea have won 26 of their 28 games under her leadership. City have been in an unusual spot after long-term Manager Gareth Taylor was sacked from his position on Monday, with Nick Cushings taking over as interim. 

Following their flying form, it didn’t take long before Chelsea opened the scoring, with Lauren James’ clever pass putting Mayra Ramirez through on goal. Ayaka Yamashita was just able to keep the ball out of the net, but the rebound struck Laia Aleixandri and fell back to Ramirez for an early opener. 

After Chelsea’s goal the energy amongst the City side seemed to surge. Shots from Leila Ouhabi and Aoba Fujino both came close, forcing Hannah Hampton to ground to make some strong saves. 

Chelsea’s centre back pairing of Captain Millie Bright and Natalie Bjorn worked flawlessly to keep the ball out of the net. The duo made countless saves and well-timed blocks, ensuring that their side kept the lead heading into the second half. 

Sjoeke Nüsken and Erin Cuthbert also deserve their flowers for their defensive effort. Nüsken did a stellar job of keeping the City attack at bay, and Cuthbert’s support provided crucial reinforcement to the backline. 

City came back out from the break with vengeance, finding the well deserved equaliser in the 64th minute. Fujino was allowed a dangerous amount of space, and sent a powerful shot soaring past Hampton, catching Chelsea off guard. 

With the score level and 25 minutes left on the clock, there was everything left to play for. 

Above: Natalie Bjorn (right) takes on Khadija Shaw (left) Photo: Lauren Kelly for Impetus 

The Chelsea defence did an incredible job of working tirelessly to nullify the looming threat of Khadija Shaw, ensuring the prolific goalscorer was unable to find the net. Shaw will be frustrated she was unable to make the scoresheet, with several chances going begging. 

Agonisingly for City, they would be left to reflect on earlier missed chances when Chelsea sourced a second with just 13 minutes left on the clock. Hasegawa’s foot connected with the end of Ramirez’s cross into the box, mistakenly sending the ball flying past Yamashita for an own goal. 

Three minutes of extra time were announced, and the Chelsea supporters in the stands turned up the volume to rally around their team. The full-time whistle marked the end of a relentless battle between the two sides, and Chelsea were officially declared League Cup Champions. 

Chelsea now remain on the hunt for more silverware, and they’re still on track to potentially achieve a historic quadruple this season. They are still contenders in the FA Cup, Champions League and lead the Women’s Super League title race with a comfortable eight point gap over second-place Arsenal. 

LINEUPS: 

CHELSEA: Hampton, Bronze, Bright (captain), Bjorn, Baltimore, Nusken, Cuthbert, Kaneryd, Macario, James, Ramirez SUBS: Spencer, Lawrence, Charles (87’), Jean-Francois, Brown, Kaptein (78’), Hamano (75’), Beever-Jones (75’), Fishel

CITY: Yamashita, Casparij, Prior, Aleixandri (captain), Ouhabi, Hasegawa, Fujino, Roord, Miedema, Fowler, Shaw SUBS: Keating, Lazell, Coombs, Wienroither, Kerolin (81’), Park (81’), Blindkilde Brown, Obama, Murphy

REFEREE: Emily Heaslip

ATTENDANCE: 14,187 

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Ibini wins it late for Sydney FC

Sydney FC 2-1 Wellington Phoenix

By Emma Burke 15/3/25

Above: Sydney FC players celebrating the late winning goal. Photo: Sydney FC

Sydney FC have scraped themselves off the bottom of the table after Princess Ibini’s 98th minute goal secured them the 2-1 win against Wellington Phoenix at Leichhardt Oval. 

Maddie Caspers, who also celebrated her 18th birthday today, opened the scoring after finding herself on the end of a cross from Abbey Lemon that had missed Mackenzie Hawkesby in the middle of the box.

Caspers gift was wrapped up neatly for her when the defender in front of her, Tiana Jaber, slipped over at the most inopportune time, allowing Caspers to slot the ball home past Phoenix keeper Carolina Vilao.

The Phoenix had plenty of chances to find the back of the next, but had nearly every shot on target thwarted by an excellent shift between the sticks by 18 year old keeper Jasmine Black. 

When Wellington did finally find their equaliser, late in the second half, it was through a pin-point through ball from Captain Annalie Longo, to reach Manaia Elliot who was making a well timed run into the box.


With the scoreboard tied at a goal apiece, it was looking like this game would end in a draw, but a second yellow card to Jaber saw Wellington go down to 10 players with five minutes left in regular time.

While some teams have managed to see out a draw or even secure a win with 10 on the pitch, this was not the case for the Wellington Phoenix, who crumbled under both the pressure and speed of Sydney’s crucial substitution in Princess Ibini.

Ibini’s goal in the dying seconds of additional time came about through a clever one-two with Lemon, allowing Ibini the time and space to position herself to take a curling shot that passed Vilao in Wellington’s goal.

This result puts Sydney FC in 11th place on the table, just one point ahead of their cross-town rivals, Western Sydney, and leaves Wellington Phoenix in 8th place with only four games left of the season to try and secure a place in the finals.

Check out our Instagram feed @ImpetusFootball to see photo galleries from the game by Impetus’ Kris Goman and Ryan Miller-Woods

Teams: SYDNEY FC (4-2-3-1): Black, Tumeth, Thompson, Tobin, Lemon, Hollman, Johnson, Tallon-Henniker, Dos Santos, Caspers, Hawkesby Substitutions: Connors, Farrow, Ibini, Mason-Jones, Bryson

Scorers: Caspers 45+4’, Ibini 90+8’ 

WELLINGTON PHIENIX (4-4-2): Vilao, Wall, Jaber, Kelly, Elliot, Brazendale, McCutcheon, Longo, Main, Fergusson, Whinham Substitutes: McMeeken, Jale, Tanaka, Ingham, Neary

Scorers: Elliot 74’
Referee: Mikayla Ryan

Attendance: 1,507.

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Liverpool v Manchester United shows the WSL lacks historical rivalries

By Catherine MacKenzie (14/03/2025)

Above: the scoreboard at Anfield. Photo: @LiverpoolFCW on X

Liverpool beat Manchester United 3-1 at Anfield on Friday evening, thanks to an Olivia Smith brace and a Nagano goal.

When Liverpool men play Manchester United, the walls of Anfield ring with the voices of over 60,000 fans desperate to see their team take bragging rights against their fiercest rivals. The two most successful English clubs in the men’s game have an enmity that is rarely surpassed; stronger than other regional conflicts, there is deep-rooted emotion steeped in the histories of Manchester and Liverpool. The two cities of the industrial-North share an unparalleled passion for football; in the men’s game transfers between the clubs do not happen, and games are frenetic.

The region has also been home to some of women’s football’s most important historical figures – such as Lily Parr and the Dick-Kerr Ladies, who famously defied the FA’s 1921 directive that women should not be allowed to play football. It is arguable that the area should be at the forefront of the women’s game today rather than besieged by off-pitch headlines and overshadowed by their London peers.

Fans and pundits have often complained that the WSL lacks rivalry between clubs that have traditionally always been at odds. Whilst Arsenal and Chelsea have forged their rivalry due to their domination of England’s women’s football landscape, clubs farther from London have struggled to replicate this competitiveness.

This showed on Friday evening as Liverpool hosted Manchester United at Anfield in the WSL for the first time. Ahead of the game, United manager Marc Skinner spoke of the ‘spirits’ of Anfield; interim Liverpool boss Amber Whiteley talked about the importance of the Anfield crowd.

They were urging match-going fans to create the noise that forces games between their clubs’ men’s teams to become more than a tactical game of football. This noise is perhaps what those fans and pundits want the league to develop – the pure passion of taking on a fierce rival that can be seen in the International game, and in other leagues (such as Frauen-Bundesliga games between Bayern and Wolfsburg).

Above: Bayern Munich v Wolfsburg, 14/03/2025. Photo: FC Bayern / Eva Dippold

On this cold Friday at Anfield, they were not successful. A relatively meagre crowd did not create the noise Anfield is known for; but to be fair, they were given little reason to for the first hour of the game.

Manchester United, sitting above Liverpool in the table and on a seven-game winning streak, dominated the opening stages. Despite this, they did not score, and did not really create that much. Over 60% possession with little to show for it, United missed chances from Terland and Clinton, and looked fatigued and flat.

Liverpool’s main strength was their patience. They were patient on the ball, carefully choosing passes that would give them the most momentum. United let them do this, and there was little tenacity from the visitors. When Liverpool did have the chance to break forward, they were confident and took advantage of an uncharacteristically poor showing from the United defence. The team that had only conceded six goals in fifteen games conceded their seventh and eighth and quickly looked bereft of ideas.

The home side were also physical, acting as if they did realise in the end that this was supposed to be a game between two intense rivals. They prodded at United in the hopes of getting them to make sloppy decisions, and this proved successful when they were awarded a penalty to make it 3-0.

United showed more impetus following the introduction of Sandberg, Miyazawa and Malard. However, these substitutions came in the 69th minute when the game was already beyond reach at 3-0, and there was little real impact the newcomers could make. The one positive for United came just before full-time, when Maya Le Tissier got on the end of a Miyazawa cross to make it 3-1.

Liverpool interim boss Whiteley makes it three wins from three. She has also implemented enough organisation and confidence that the Liverpool hierarchy will surely be looking at making her position permanent. For United, the outlook is less positive – their hopes of Champions League football and a top-3 finish now rely on achieving positive results against Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal.

TEAMS: LIVERPOOL (4-2-3-1): Laws, Hinds, Clark, Matthews, Bernabe, Kerr, Nagano, Smith, Hobinger, Kapocs, Haug. Substitutes: Evans, Enderby, Daniels, Micah, Fahey, Shaw, Parry, Bartel.

Scorers: Smith (42’), Nagano (45+2’), Smith (67’)

MANCHESTER UNITED (4-2-3-1): Tullis-Joyce, George, Turner, Le Tissier, Riviere, Clinton, Janssen, Galton, Toone, Bizet, Terland. Substitutes: Sandberg, Mannion, Miyazawa, Williams, Malard, Middleton-Patel, Naalsund.

Scorer: Le Tissier (89’)

Referee: Amy Fearns

Attendance: 15,596

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Last gasp McKenna keeps Perth Finals hopes alive in classic

Central Coast Mariners 3-3 Perth Glory

by Ben Gilby (14/3/25)

Above: Tijan McKenna (light shirt) wins a header. Her late equaliser would earn the Glory a point. Photo: Perth Glory.

A goal three minutes into injury time at the end of 90 minutes from Tijan McKenna gave Perth Glory a point from a dramatic game in which they lost a 2-1 lead against Central Coast Mariners.

This was a thrilling encounter from the off between two sides who needed a win to keep pushing for a spot in the top six. Perth went into the game on the back of a superb 3-0 win against Western United, but had been hamstrung by an inability to win on the road this season. They went all out tonight at Industree Group Stadium to change that stat.

McKenna symbolised exactly what the Glory were hoping to achieve when she hit the game’s first serious effort on goal after 12 minutes. And what an effort!

Taking possession around 25 yards outside the Mariners’ area, the Young Matilda took a touch, cut into a slightly more central position, and let fly with an absolute rocket from almost 30 yards that former Perth goalkeeper Sarah Langman somehow managed to claw down and dive onto. It was a stunning shot, and a superb save which set the tone for what was to follow.

Six minutes later though, the home side hit the front. Following Taylor Ray’s corner on the right, Peta Trimis crashed in a cross shot from the right that Casey Dumont repelled, and set in motion a scramble of playground style proportions that ended with Jessika Nash cooly slotting home from the centre of the 18-yard box.

As the half wore on, the Mariners had a golden chance to double their lead. A mis-kick in the middle of the box from Onyi Zogg allowed Isabel Gomez to break clear. Dumont came out to narrow the angle, and it worked with Gomez’s shot going agonisingly wide of the right hand post.

Shortly after the interval, Perth made sure that Central Coast rued that missed opportunity. The visitors were awarded a free-kick around 30 yards out on the left hand side of the pitch. Sarah O’Donoghue’s shot came in low and bounced in front of Langman, squirming all the way into the net to level the scores.

Above: Sarah O’Donoghue celebrates after scoring for Perth Glory at Central Coast Mariners. Photo: A-Leagues.

From the re-start, the Mariners looked to apply the pressure immediately. Gomez strode purposefully through the middle of the park with acres of space ahead of her. Trimis came up in support on the left and was fed possession. Showing pace and superb footwork, the young star made herself space to fire in a shot from 15 yards out, left of centre which Dumont pushed over the top.

With 56 on the clock, it was Perth’s turn to threaten. Naomi Chinnama chipped a ball across the midfield for Megan Wynne on the left flank. The Welsh wizard played a sumptuous pass through that bisected the Mariners’ defence and fell perfectly into the path of O’Donoghue running into the box. Advancing one-on-one with Langman, the Glory attacker lifted the ball into the net for the icing on the cake – a classy move from start to finish.

Just four minutes later, Trimis once more showed her outstanding ability on the left. The teen star advanced before curling a low ball around the Perth defence into the path of Annalise Rasmussen who couldn’t miss from less than 10 yards at the back post. Another superb move full of skill and vision that finished with a goal.

With just over 20 minutes remaining, the home side completed their comeback by hitting the front. An errant pass in midfield gave possession to Central Coast in the form of Gomez. There were acres of space in front of her to play a perfectly weighted pass for Tiana Fuller to run onto. Dumont came out to meet her, but Fuller showed icy calm to round the Glory keeper and roll the ball home.

But the drama was not over yet. Three minutes into the allotted five of stoppage time at the end of 90 minutes, up stepped McKenna.

From the middle of the park, substitute Ella Lincoln threaded a perfectly pass through to find O’Donoghue. As the Glory co-captain entered the area, she laid off the ball for McKenna outside her on the left hand edge of the box. The Western Australian youngster took a touch before hitting a low shot first time that beat the despairing dive of Langman to claim a point for Perth.

This was a game full of outstanding moments of individual skill and sublime team play. So many young stars were showcased – the one frustrating thing for both sides is that neither could get the win that they really needed.

Being placed higher on the ladder, Central Coast will be more pleased than the Glory. For the visitors, the wait for an away win goes on. Until they can achieve one, it will be extremely challenging to get a top six reward for the immense character and continued improvement that they have shown this season.

Teams: CENTRAL COAST MARINERS (4-2-3-1): Langman, Stowe, Nash, Ray, Martin, Quilligan, Gomez, Pennock, Galic, Trimis, Rasmussen. Substitutes: Carmichael, Fuller, Hughes, McMahon, Nunn.

Scorers: Nash 18′, Rasmussen 61′, Fuller 69′.

PERTH GLORY (4-3-3): Dumont, McKenna, Zogg, Chinnama, Foletta, Palmer, Dalton, Tathem, Wynne, O’Donoghue, Johnston. Substitutes: Anderson, Lincoln, Phonsongkham, Templeman, Wainwright.

Scorers: O’Donoghue 49′, 57′. McKenna 90+3.

Referee: Molly Godsell.

Attendance: 1,115.

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Vidošić hopes Seagulls “can put a few goals away” against Spurs 

Above: Brighton coach Dario Vidošić Photo: Brighton and Hove Albion FC

By Aimee-Lou Caldecourt (14/03/25)

Head Coach Dario Vidošić spoke to the media today ahead of Brighton and Hove Albion’s away trip to Tottenham Hotspur this Sunday. 

After a fortnight off, the Seagulls are looking to replicate the performance they put in against Chelsea. Vidošić reflected on that game after a controversial equaliser for Chelsea meant Brighton had to settle for a point.

“A little bit frustrating, I think, at the end, the offside goal and potentially a penalty for us.” He sympathised with officials, “but look, these are the decisions that were made, not easy ones mind you… when it’s all happening live, especially the offside… [it is] not the easiest call.” Saying “I think eventually we’ll see [VAR] in the women’s game”

Looking ahead to the Spurs game the squad have worked on all aspects of their game in training this week, Vidošić described the game as “two teams that want to play football” as both Brighton and Tottenham are teams who just want to get on with their game and get stuck in early on. In the reverse fixture back in December it was a stalemate between the two, “when we have those patches of dominance, we can put a few goals away, we didn’t manage to do that last time in the first half.”

Brighton are currently on track for their best finish in the WSL in their history, but Vidošić believes that it does not matter until May. “It is nice that we are in fifth, it only matters on the final whistle after the last game of the season.”

Team news is looking good, Jorelyn Caribali has been cleared of any serious injury after the last international break in the SheBelieves Cup. She still is not back out on the pitch; however, she is waiting for another scan to identify the issue in her knee. Bruna Vilamala is back on the grass and should see her return in a couple of weeks’ time.

Marisa Olislagers was the goal scorer of a stunning half volleyin the reverse fixture and Vidosic has high praise for her. “She’s a highly technical player, very intelligent as well… how she trained how she conducted herself how hard she works and when she came back in and had her chance, I thought she has been terrific, very very good player, young player.”

Brighton are still yet to register a league win in 2025 so far, and will be looking to rectify this against Spurs. The game takes place on Sunday afternoon at Brisbane Road with a 3pm kick off.

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Western win in a classic against Canberra

Western United 4-3 Canberra United

By Alyce Collett 13/3/25

Above: Keiwa Hieda (left) retains possession against Hayley Taylor-Young. Photo: Western United

Western United have picked up three crucial points in the race to secure an A-League Women’s finals berth after a 4-3 win over Canberra United tonight. 

In an absolutely chaotic match, Western United fought back from being down three times, and with goals to Keiwa Hieda, Catherine Zimmerman, Sandra Ibarguen and an own goal from Sally James, ultimately nabbed the winner in the dying minutes of regulation time. Canberra United did put up a massive fight though. Bethany Gordon, Madison Ayson and Mary Stanic-Floody all scored and they really pushed the home side all night. 

Western United were definitely the side to get on top early, spending a lot more time in attack and creating a lot more attacking play than their visitors were. The likes of Keiwa Hieda, Zimmerman and Chloe Logarzo were particularly lively.

However, despite all that attacking play it was Canberra United who scored first. It was completely against the run of play, and happened after Michelle Heyman set up Gordon who slotted it in the back of the net after catching out Chloe Lincoln. 

The goal completely flipped the momentum, with Canberra starting to play as the more confident side and the home side seemed really rattled. 

Western United did regroup and began to rack up the attacking play again, but no matter how close they got to scoring a goal, James and the rest of the Canberra defence stood tall and denied their hosts again and again and again. 

The half time stats told a stark story, particularly for the home side. 

The possession count was 61% to 39% in Western’s favour, and Western United had quadruple the number of shots on goal (eight to four), but both sides had one shot on target each.  

The second half can only be described as chaotic. 

Western United finally got some reward for all that attacking play they had created only a couple of minutes into the second half, when Adriana Taranto set up Hieda, who curled one past James in the Canberra goal to equalise proceedings. 

Unfortunately the home side’s joy did not last long after Ayson brilliantly headed a cross home to give Canberra back the lead not even five minutes after Hieda’s goal. 

Western United was not done though, as Zimmerman launched one into the top corner of the Canberra goal after pouncing on a poor Canberra pass, and the game was back level again. 

In a case of déjà vu, Canberra did not take long to restore their lead after Stanic-Floody scored a goal up the other end that was just as impressive as Zimmerman’s. 

Just as it looked like Canberra were going to hold their hosts out, with about 10 minutes to go Ibarguen snuck behind the Canberra defence to slot home Western United’s third goal of the evening and level up proceedings yet again.

Western kept attacking the goal, and were rewarded with a fourth goal in the penultimate minute of regular time after a Kiara De Domizio ball in was deflected into the back of the net off James’ glove. 

Teams: WESTERN UNITED (4-4-2): Lincoln, Grove, Maher, Mihocic, Medwin, Hieda, Logarzo, Eggesvik,A.Taranto, Dehakiz, Zimmerman. Substitutes: Cerne,Ibarguen, Dall’Oste, de Domizio, M.Taranto.

Scorers: Hieda 50’, Zimmerman 63’, Ibarguen 82’, James[OG] 89’

CANBERRA UNITED (4-3-3): James, Anton, Ayson, Heyman, Gordon, Taylor-Young, Christopherson, Malone, Robers, Markovski, Keane. Substitutes: Bertolissio, Majstorovic, Murray, Stanic-Floody, Nathan.

Scorers: Gordon 12’, Ayson 53’, Stanic-Floody 65’.

Referee: Caitlin Williams.

Attendance: 503.

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Sørensen hails Arsenal’s organisation: “They are very well coached”

Above: Clare Wheeler for Everton. Photo: Emma Simpson for Impetus

By Alyce Collett

Everton boss Brian Sørensen admitted on Thursday that pitch conditions may have played a role in his opponent’s loss in the FA Cup.

Ahead of Friday’s game against Arsenal, Sørensen had both positive and negative news on the injury front.

He confirmed that Clare Wheeler is fit enough to start if need be (following injury), while Louna Ribadeira will be out for a while after developing a cyst in her foot. There is no timeline on the young Frenchwoman’s return.

Sørensen and his Toffees face an Arsenal side this week licking their wounds after a poor performance in the FA Cup last weekend against Everton’s crosstown rivals Liverpool.

“I think the conditions played a part in the way that they [Liverpool] exploited their weaknesses,” Sorenson explained. Speaking about Arsenal, the Everton boss asserted that “I think we’ve seen a couple of things that we can potentially hurt them on, but I generally think they have one of the best squads available, and then they are a team that works very well together”.

The Toffees’ boss highlighted Arsenal’s organisation: “You can see they are well coached, and even when Jonas was there, I thought they were very organised, and they still are so it’s going to be extremely tough for us. And I know it’s probably the worst time to play them, they want to bounce back quickly after a loss like that, but I know they also said it themselves, the circumstances they played under played into the way that that game went, they couldn’t really get any proper control and so on, but of course they have some weaknesses, we’ll try to explore it, but it’s going to be a really tough game.”

Sørensen’s opposite number for this weekend Renee Slegers described Everton as an “unpredictable” side, which the Toffees boss agreed with.

“If I should describe our team, I would say a bit of the same because that’s what we’re still try to do and strive to do” Sørensen said.

“But as I said many times, you need players to do that, and now we have it, so it’s probably a bit clearer from everyone, but from my side and the way I’ve been working with the staff, it’s been the same approach since basically I came in. With more players, better players, we can be much more dynamic, which we really want to be”.

There has been a resurgence from Everton since the new year, off the back of the Toffees finally being able to properly bring new players in during the January transfer window.

Although the Toffees are out of both Cup competitions, they are clear of relegation and Sørensen said that the position his side is in does give them a bit more freedom, noting that “It maybe settles the nerves a bit, in terms of worrying in about that battle with the others, in terms of who’s going to be relegated, when there’s still points available to pick up, and it’s reasonable for other teams to catch us”.

Sørensen highlighted what he believes is the key to Everton’s run of strong performances: developing relationships on pitch between new players and veterans. Sørensen praised the structure in place in the team, saying that “I think the structure we have is easy for them [new players] to understand”.

“But I also say all the ones who have been here for the last couple of years. They are five, six, seven and eight assistant coaches in terms of getting everyone drilled in fast. So yeah, credit to the to the players in terms of taking the new ones in and getting the messages onboard because then it’s easier for those one to understand.

“I think because we are like being so unpredictable and dynamic, it also takes a lot of practice, and it takes a lot from the players to take it on board.”

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