Western United striker Hannah Keane scored twice to help her side defeat league-leaders Melbourne City 3-1 at AAMI Park on Thursday afternoon.
Hannah Wilkinson scored for City and had a second cancelled out by a marginal offside call before Young Matildas star Kahli Johnson came off the bench to make it 3-1 and ice the contest.
City held a seven-point lead at the top of the Liberty A-League table prior to Round 14 but couldn’t extend the advantage as Western climbed from fifth into second with the three-point display.
City have now lost two of their last three games in the Liberty A-League.
Western United had the best of the early chances, with Chloe Logarzo firing a long-range free-kick on target, calling Lysianne Proulx into a fingertip save. Keane was the next to threaten City’s goal, sliding in to meet a cross at the near post; the ball squirmed under the body of City captain Rebekah Stott and off the post.
But Western would go on to take the lead through Keane, after Proulx’s save from Logarzo’s shot dropped kindly into her path for a simple header into an unguarded net.
City’s response was swift. After Daniela Galic had a shot saved from close range and Bryleeh Henry’s deflected shot dropped off the crossbar, Wilkinson came up with the equaliser.
The New Zealand international converted from inside the six-yard box after Kaitlyn Torpey’s header at the back post into the danger zone.
City almost took a 2-1 lead on the stroke of half-time but a remarkable save from Western keeper Hillary Beall kept her side on level terms.
Western were let off the hook in the second half when Torpey found Wilkinson with a low cross to finish into the bottom corner – but the assistant referee’s flag was raised for a slender offside call on Wilkinson.
The hosts felt aggrieved by the decision – and Western compounded City’s frustration shortly after as Keane bagged her second of the afternoon to put her side 2-1 ahead.
City responded well to going behind in the first half and it was no different after Western’s second. Torpey continued to threaten for the hosts but her work in chance creation wasn’t matched by her teammate’s finishing.
Wilkinson prodded over Beall but wide of the target in a one-on-one, and then Pollicina saw her big chance snuffed out by desperate Western defending.
Jaclyn Sawicki called Proulx into a sprawling save to tip her shot from distance over the bar before Johnson put Western out of sight. The Young Matildas star, returning after a two-month absence due to a leg fracture, volleyed past Proulx with conviction from a tight angle to put Western out of sight.
