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Sydney FC held onto top spot in the W-League courtesy of a hard-fought 2-1 win over Melbourne Victory at Parramatta Stadium today.
The win guaranteed Sydney are the only team on six points after two matches with first round winners Newcastle Jets and Queensland Roar suffering surprise defeats.
Sydney though were forced to rely on a last minute penalty save from goalkeeper Rachel Cooper to secure all three points.
Cooper, having conceded the penalty, parried Marlies Oostdam’s powerfully struck spot kick to the relief of teammates.
Victory opened the scoring against the run of play through midfielder Sarah Groenewald mid-way through the first half and held onto their lead until ten minutes after the interval.
Nicola Bolger forced home the equaliser from close range for the home side after a period of extended pressure.
Sydney continued to press the Victory but were met with stout resistance from the Victory defence and their Matildas goalkeeper Melissa Barbieri.
Finally the breakthrough came with dangerous striker Leena Khamis slotting past an exposed Barbieri eight minutes from time.
“I thought we dominated the game with our possession,” said acting Sydney FC coach Ante Juric who was leading the team in the absence of Alen Stajcic in Malaysia with the Young Matildas.
“We didn’t create as many chances as I would have liked, but in saying that we had four or five good opportunities that we didn’t put away, and overall I thought we deserved the result.”
Canberra United caused the upset of the round, knocking over championship aspirants Queensland Roar in Brisbane thanks to the lone goal of the game after 16 minutes from Kara Mowbray.
Canberra were missing key players in injured striker Caitlin Munoz as well as young stars Christine Walters and Ashleigh Sykes who are representing the Young Matildas in their World Cup qualification campaign.
Central Coast Mariners bounced back from an opening round defeat to score a solid 3-1 win over visiting the Perth Glory in the late game at Parramatta Stadium.
Renee Rollason proved the hero scoring twice after Trudy Camilleri had grabbed the opener.
Shannon May scored the only goal for the Glory.
In Friday’s only match, Adelaide United upset Newcastle Jets with a 3-2 home win.
Unheralded striker Sandra Scalzi scored the first ever W-League hat-trick, helping United to a deserved victory.
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