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20Jan24
Leaders Extend Wellington's Losing Streak
by Jeremy Ruane
Liberty A-League leaders Melbourne City extended Wellington Phoenix's losing streak to four matches on 20 January, defeating Paul Temple's team 2-1 at the City Football Academy Field despite being reduced to ten players in the dying minutes.
City dominated possession and territory in the early stages, but it was Wellington who carved out the first opening, Isabel Cox pouncing on a stray pass in the eighth minute, only for Football Fern Rebekah Stott to come across and execute a superb covering tackle.
City responded to that scare instantly, Julia Grosso nutmegging Emma Main to work a one-two with Emina Ekic before looking to pick out Rhianna Pollicina with her cross. The covering figure of Cox timed her intervention to perfection to force the ball back to Rylee Foster.
Cox was on defensive duties again in the seventeenth minute, heading the ball to safety after Pollicina targeted the head of Taylor Otto with a free-kick from the left. Four minutes later, it was Wellington's turn to threaten via a free-kick after Hope Breslin was taken out off the ball. Hailey Davidson played the ball short to Michaela Foster, whose well-flighted angled cross parted the hair of Kate Taylor as she looked to head home from eight yards.
This was a rare chance for the visitors, who were living off crumbs compared to City, and not making great use of the ball when they did have possession, something which the home team enjoyed in abundance, but were unable to make much use of due to a lack of penetration.
That this was the case had a lot to do with the efforts of Mackenzie Barry and Rebecca Lake at the heart of Wellington's defence. The Football Ferns defender executed a super tackle to thwart Daniela Galic in the act of shooting in the 25th minute, while after a Kaitlyn Torpey cross had been headed over by Otto, Barry intervened again, this time at Hannah Wilkinson's expense after Galic and Pollicina had worked a one-two in the penalty area on the half-hour.
The Football Ferns striker was almost anonymous in the first half, so well were Barry and Lake doing their jobs, and it was a measure of their efforts that City carved out just one more chance before half-time, a 39th minute raid by Grosso which saw her nutmeg Annalie Longo en route to the penalty area, where she lashed a low drive at Foster.
As well as the threat on goal, there was an incident just before the interval which would have consequences later in the match, Ekic deservedly being booked for attempting to pull down Mariana Speckmaier's shorts from behind, with the striker's understandable retaliation also earning her a yellow card from referee Isabella Libri.
The second spell began in lively fashion, Main dashing down the right before stinging the gloves of the hitherto untested Lysianne Proulx just two minute after play had resumed. This prompted a Melbourne response in which Ekic lashed a shot over the bar after an enterprising raid by Galic.
City opened the scoring in the 51st minute. Otto played the ball down the left to Grosso, who did Main a treat in the penalty area before drawing two defenders and executing a reverse pass which afforded Pollicina the time and space in which to turn and thrash the ball across Foster and into the far corner of the net from six yards.
Wellington's goalkeeper kept out a long-range free-kick from Ekic ten minutes later, then looked on with relief as Wilkinson spurned a glorious if difficult chance to double City's lead. Galic powered her way down the left and surged into the penalty area before rounding the lunging figure of Barry.
She then rode a challenge from Main before firing an acute-angled shot against the near post, the rebound of which saw Wilkinson, reacting as quickly as she could before the ball spun behind her, send the sphere soaring over the bar of an open goal from four yards. In fairness, it was a tough chance to take at a split second's notice, especially when off-balance, but a chance it remained.
Melbourne attacked again in the 65th minute, Ekic
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raiding off the right flank before seeing her shot blocked by Lake. The rebound fell to Wilkinson, who directed her attempt at Foster, her last involvement in the game for the next ten minutes or so, given play was focused on the other goal during this phase of the contest.
For Wellington went in search of an equaliser with gusto aplenty. Longo and Cox combined with Main, whose low cross sizzled across the bows of Speckmaier, who was racing in to meet it at the near post in the 66th minute.
Four minutes later, Longo, Breslin and Cox teamed up on the left, with support from Michaela Foster, whose swerving twenty-yarder was tipped over the bar by Proulx. Cue a cluster of Wellington substitutions, one of whom, Zoe McMeeken, burst through a couple of challenges before inviting Cox to let fly, an eighteen yard effort directed straight at City's goalkeeper.
Proulx responded by igniting a counter-attack from which Melbourne doubled their lead. Torpey outmuscled Cox on the touchline, and the ball was swiftly played to Galic, who galloped downfield at a great rate of knots before feeding Ekic, who cut inside both Barry and Lake before unleashing a shot which found the net beyond the diving figure of Foster just as Barry and the retreating figure of Taylor were diving in to tackle her.
Sadly for the influential Barry, this was her last contribution to proceedings, as she was injured in this incident, with debutant Helena Errington replacing her. But as she limped round to the dugouts, her team-mates afforded her a smile by reducing the deficit twelve minutes from time.
Alyssa Whinham - things always seem to happen when she's on the park - teamed up with Longo and McMeeken, who brought fellow substitute Tiana Jaber into the mix. Much of the rest of her contribution to proceedings was instantly forgettable - conceding a corner from just inside her own half, for instance - but on this occasion, she got things spot on with an angled cross from deep which was only ever going to be won by one player.
Sure enough, Speckmaier made it her ball, and duly guided it inside to Cox. She was crowded out in the penalty area, but the ball broke kindly for the Venezuelan, who fair slammed it home from twelve yards - 2-1.
Soon afterwards, Taylor headed over the bar, and she later fired wildly over the woodwork after fine work by Longo, who evaded two challenges on the left before producing a super cross which more attack-minded players than Taylor should have anticipated and capitalised upon.
For by this time, City had been reduced to ten players. Five minutes from time, substitute Bryleeh Henry raced in off the right and threaded a pass through for Wilkinson to pursue. Rylee Foster raced off her line to block the ball, which rolled invitingly into the stride of Leticia McKenna, whose rising drive crashed to safety off the post.
The resulting goal kick saw the ball played across towards Jaber, who was caught chest-high by the raised boot of Ekic. After her first half naughtiness, this incident left referee Libri with little choice but to book the offender for the second time in the game - out came the red card, and off she went, reducing City to ten women for the duration.
Wellington were unable to take advantage of their numerical superiority in the time remaining, however, and when the final whistle blew, they had dropped to ninth place in the table as a result of this, their fourth successive loss and fifth in six matches. Melbourne, meanwhile, sail on at the top of the table, some thirteen points clear of the team they conquered following this victory.
Melbourne: Proulx; Roestbakken (Henry, 71), Otto, Stott; Torpey, Hughes, Pollicina (L. Davidson, 89), Grosso; Galic, Wilkinson, Ekic (booked, 42, 86 - sent off)
Wellington: R. Foster; H. Davidson, Barry (Errington, 77), Lake, M. Foster (Jaber, 71); Longo (booked, 60), Taylor, Breslin (booked, 45 (Whinham, 71); Main (McMeeken, 71), Speckmaier (booked, 42), Cox
Referee: Isabella Libri
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