Melbourne Victory were put to the sword by Sydney FC on Thursday afternoon, with the Sky Blues running out 6-3 winners.
SUMMARY
Head coach Jeff Hopkins made four changes to his starting XI, most notably the inclusion of 2020/21 Championship-winning goalkeeper Gaby Garton due to Casey Dumont’s ongoing absence.
The game itself started as a cagey affair as both teams looked to settle into their regular patterns.
Set pieces looked the most likely route to goal, with several dangerous balls sent into the box at both ends of the pitch.
A corner would indeed prove the key as Sydney took the lead in the 25th minute through Princess Ibini.
It didn’t take long for the Sky Blues to double their advantage, as Cortnee Vine played through Mackenzie Hawkesby who was clinical with her finish.
Victory were forced into an early goalkeeper substitution as Garton succumbed to injury, being replaced by Miranda Templeman.
Sydney won a penalty soon after the substitution, which despite being sensationally saved by Templeman, was put into the back of the net with the follow up by Ibini.
Sydney had come firing out of the blocks, but Victory revived the contest in the dying minutes of the half with two quick goals.
Rikke Madsen opened her Victory account in the 42nd minute, pressing from the front and forcing the opposition goalkeeper into a turnover which ended up in the goal.
Lia Privitelli then made it 3-2 after putting away a sensational cross from Beattie Goad with just a couple of minutes remaining in the first half.
However, the late fightback was quietened in the final minute of the half when Sydney scored their fourth, again coming from a corner but this time headed by Madison Haley.
A hectic first half which came to an end with Sydney leading 4-2.
The visitors struck again early in the second, this time with Vine using her pace to skip past the goalkeeper and slide the ball into an empty net.
The goal seemed to eradicate any hopes of another comeback, as Sydney began to look more comfortable in the game.
Ibini secured her hat-trick on the hour mark, making the score 6-2.
A rare bright spark arose for Victory in the 68th minute, when Templeman saved her second penalty of the afternoon.
Victory also pulled back a late goal thanks to substitute Maja Markovski cooly converting a penalty in the 88th minute.
Ultimately though, the visitors proved too strong on the day, taking all three points back to Sydney.
PLAYER IN FOCUS
Miranda Templeman put in another stand-out performance on short notice, coming off the bench in the 34th minute.
The young goalkeeper saved two penalties amongst several other excellent stops, despite the one-sided scoreline.
IMPLICATIONS
The defeat ends Victory’s unbeaten run at eight games and opens the door for the chasing pack to close the gap on the top four.
RESULT
Liberty A-League 2022/23
Melbourne Victory 3 (Madsen 42′, Privitelli 45+3′, Markovski 88′)
Sydney FC 6 (Ibini 24′, 36′, 60′, Hawkesby 30′, Haley 45+5′, Vine 48′)
NEXT UP
Victory next play host to the other team from Sydney as Western Sydney Wanderers visit CB Smith Reserve on Saturday 4th February, kicking-off at 3:00pm AEDT.
