Ninja A-League round-up: Melbourne City set stunning unbeaten run record, Sydney FC move from bottom | OneFootball

Round 19 of the A-League Women season saw Melbourne City looking to set a new record for the longest unbeaten run. They welcomed Adelaide United, who were also still in with a shot of the Premiers Plate.

Meanwhile, Western Sydney Wanderers vs Melbourne Victory was postponed due to extreme heat. Here’s a closer look at how the rest of the events unfolded around Australia.

Central Coast Mariners 3-3 Perth Glory

The weekend’s action got underway with a bang on Friday night as the Mariners and Glory shared six goals in Gosford.

Jessika Nash opened the scoring for the Mariners after 19 minutes. What originally looked like a well-worked corner routine descended into an almighty scramble in front of goal. Nash eventually hammered home past a stranded Casey Dumont.

Perth turned the game on its head with a quick-fire double early in the second half, courtesy of Sarah O’Donoghue. Her first was a long-range free-kick that went through Sarah Lamgman in the Mariners net. Her second came seven minutes later and owed much to a wonderful assist from Isobel Dalton.

The home side restored parity through Annalise Rasmussen. Peta Trimis’ ball across the face of goal was inch perfect and Rasmussen couldn’t miss.

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With 20 minutes to go, Tiana Fuller put the Mariners ahead in a crazy game. Gomez grabbed her second assist of the night with a slide rule pass through the Glory defence. Fuller broke the offside trap to round Dumont and slot home.

There was a final twist in the tale deep into added-on time. Glory found themselves with a three-on-two overload and O’Donoghue completed a fine night’s work to play in Tijan McKenna. She made no mistake to beat Langman at her near post and ensure the points were shared.

Western United 4-3 Canberra United

The Friday night feast continued as Western and Canberra put on a seven-goal show at Ironbark Fields.

Canberra took the lead against the run of play after 12 minutes. Michelle Heyman took a high pass in her stride and shrugged off the attention of Claudia Mihocic. The Matildas legend rolled the ball into the path of the onrushing Bethany Gordon who knocked the ball home.

In the second half, all hell broke loose with six goals scored. Keiwa Hieda did superbly to convert Adriana Taranto’s cross with 50 minutes gone. Hieda fought off the challenge of Madison Ayson to level the game.

Parity didn’t last long as Ayson restored Canberra’s advantage three minutes later. The American found herself unmarked from a corner and she powered home her header.

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Western were level again ten minutes later. And in some style. Catherine Zimmerman picked up on a loose pass from Maja Markovski and found space to drive into. That was all the invitation Zimmerman needed as she unleashed a howitzer high into Sally James’ net.

Again, Canberra responded and instantly retook the lead with a thunderbolt of their own. Mary Stanic-Floody hit a first-time cracker that left Chloe Lincoln with no chance with 25 minutes to play.

The home side wouldn’t lie down and equalised for a third time. Colombian Sandra Ibarguen was in the right place at the right time as the ball fell kindly for her in the six-yard box. She made no mistake to rifle past Lincoln.

A pulsating game still had one twist left with a minute of normal time remaining. Kiara De Domizio’s cross was inadvertently turned past her own keeper by Ayson. It was cruel on Canberra, but Western cement fourth place, although Brisbane have two games in hand.

Sydney FC 2-1 Wellington Phoenix

Sydney FC lifted themselves off the foot of the table with a priceless win over Wellington Phoenix.

Wellington had the better of the early chances but were denied well by Jasmine Black. Those saves proved doubly valuable when the Sky Blues took the lead deep into first-half stoppage time. Caley Tallon-Henniker’s cross evaded everyone in the Wellington box, apart from Maddy Caspers at the back post. She made no mistake to give the home side the lead.

Annalie Longo nearly caught Black out in the second half, but her cross skimmed the bar. Black was forced into a fine save a minute later. She tipped Manaia Elliott’s dipping effort onto the underside of the bar to preserve Sydney’s advantage.

Elliott wasn’t to be denied and slid the Wellington equaliser under Black from a narrow angle with 15 minutes to go. It was no less than the visitors deserved on the balance of play.

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Wellington were reduced to 10 in the 84th minute as Tiana Jaber received her second yellow of the day.

Sydney have been on the receiving end of heartbreaking late goals this season, but this time, Lady Luck was on their side. Into the 98th minute, Abbey Lemon and Princess Ibini exchanged passes in the Wellington box. Ibini finished the move with a glorious curling effort past Carolina Vilão to send Leichhardt Oval into raptures.

Melbourne City 4-3 Adelaide United

Melbourne City extended their unbeaten A-League streak to a record-breaking 19 games as they overcame high-flying Adelaide.

Holly McNamara continued her fine form this season, pouncing on a parried free-kick to give City a tenth-minute lead. McNamara then doubled her tally just before the half hour mark as she poked home past Claudia Jenkins.

In addition to the actual rain, it was raining goals in Melbourne. Ella Tonkin gave Adelaide a way back into the game in the 33rd minute. City failed to clear a corner and Tonkin was on hand to bundle home. However, City’s two-goal advantage was restored with five minutes of the first half to play through Lucía León’s own goal.

An all too familiar problem for City gave Adelaide another lifeline early in the second half. Playing out from the back, Alexia Apostolakis was caught on the ball by Emily Hodgson. Dylan Holmes turned the loose ball into the path of Erin Healy and the American finished with aplomb low past Malena Mieres.

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With 25 minutes left, McNamara bagged her hat trick. She was on hand to sweep home the loose ball from 12 yards out. The Reds then set up a grandstand finish when Mieres dropped a corner. Another goalmouth scramble ensued before Zoe Tolland flicked a wonderful header over the City goalkeeper.

That was the end of a remarkable afternoon’s entertainment as Melbourne City sealed their place in the A-League history books and opened up a five-point gap at the top of the table. Melbourne Victory have a game in-hand after their clash with Western Sydney was postponed. The two Melbourne rivals continue to tussle it out at the top of the A-League table.

Brisbane Roar 2-3 Newcastle Jets

A stoppage-time winner from Lauren Allan sealed Newcastle Jets’ third win in a row at the expense of Brisbane Roar.

Tameka Yallop gave the home side a seventh-minute lead with her eighth goal of the season into Danielle Krzyzaniak’s far corner. A rocket from Emma Dundas drew the Jets level ten minutes later. Newcastle were level for a matter of minutes as Yallop fired home from the edge of the box to restore the Roar’s lead.

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Allan’s poked ball across the box was latched onto by Deven Jackson. She levelled again for Newcastle with a little under five minutes of the second half played.

An Alicia Woods volley drew a fine save from Jets’ keeper Krzyzaniak with 12 minutes left. But as was the theme across the league this week, there was stoppage-time drama. Brisbane didn’t deal with a ball into the box and Allan took advantage of the confusion between Emily Pringle and Olivia Sekany to turn home the winner.

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