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Melbourne City perfect no more in W-League

10th December, 2016
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It took 19 matches and an unlikely winner from a 15-year-old but Melbourne City have finally suffered defeat in the W-League.

Teenage forward Karly Roestbakken scored with seven minutes remaining on Saturday as Canberra United secured a 2-1 win in a physical and high-tempo encounter in Melbourne.

Going into the match City had won four from four, including a 2-1 win over Canberra in November, to have a share of top spot alongside Sydney FC.

City went through last season undefeated on the way to the championship in a remarkable maiden season in the competition.

On Saturday, Jenna McCormick put Canberra ahead with a header off the underside of the crossbar four minutes after halftime, but American striker Beverly Yanez equalised within a matter of moments with a sweet strike on her City debut.

The match became an end-to-end contest but, with chances at both ends, it was Canberra who found a way through.

Nickoletta Flannery delivered a perfect cross for fellow teenager Roestbakken to finish from close range past former Canberra goalkeeper Lydia Williams.

Canberra now sit in third spot, two points off the pace, while Sydney FC have the opportunity to skip clear at the top when they meet Perth Glory on Sunday evening.

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“It was a real ding-dong battle with very high intensity, but tactical as well, and in the end it went our way,” Canberra coach Rae Dower said.

“We had some wounded and ill players so that is probably the biggest thing in terms of belief, that we now know that we have that resilience,” she said.

“We will have the belief that we can get the job done moving forward, but we also know that it will put a target on our back and so next week we will have to be better again.”

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