KEEPUP brings you the talking points from a pair of fixtures Sunday afternoon, as Alex Chidiac continued to feel the effects of COVID-19 whilst a pair of Liberty A-League youngsters won hearts and minds with their uniquely brilliant goal celebrations.
Just 20 minutes into her return to Liberty A-League action, Melbourne Victory midfielder Alex Chidiac was considering calling for an early substitution.
Unable to regain her breath after repeated runs forward, it quickly became apparent to the CommBank Matildas midfielder that her return after recovering from COVID-19 would be anything but a walk in the park.
“Honestly, I’m not sure how I’m standing up right now,” Chidiac told Paramount+ after a 90-minute display in Victory’s 1-0 win over Western Sydney Wanderers at CommBank Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
“I thought I was going to have to sub myself off after 20 minutes, but I’m really happy I got through the 90 minutes.”
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Chidiac came to life in the second half, rattling the woodwork with a thunderous left-footed strike and going close on multiple occasions as she attempted to end her side’s two-game losing streak with the game in the balance.
It was a task made all the more difficult by the physical toll COVID had taken on Chidiac, which saw the star midfielder miss out Victory’s last game against Brisbane Roar.
“The main thing I’ve noticed is if I sprint forward, I find I really struggle to recover,” she said. “I feel like Im constantly out of breath throughout the game.
“A lot of the teams are having to deal with that. We all just have to step up.
“We had some players step into the starting XI today at the last minute and step up, so credit to everybody in the league, honestly.
“We have players coming in and out, so it will be great to get some consistency within the lineup, but we’re starting to become a lot more comfortable with our game plan and I think today’s performance we’re going to take a lot of positives out of, and move forward onto the next games.”
It may have been a tough day at the office for Chidiac – who cut a relieved figure after Victory’s 1-0 win – but Paramount+ analyst Amy Chapman was impressed with the 23-year-old’s performance in trying circumstances.
“She doesn’t look like a player who hasn’t played in a couple of weeks,” Chapman said. “She had plenty of confidence.
“She went missing for about 15 minutes there, but she stood up when Jeff Hopkins and Victory needed her, and probably should’ve got on the scoresheet herself.”
Two young scorers steal the show with uniquely brilliant celebrations
There was plenty to digest with three back-to-back Liberty A-League fixtures providing 270 minutes of action on the Sunday afternoon schedule, but it was two moments of infectious joy produced from two young stars that stole the show.
On Sunday afternoon Alyssa Whinham and Maja Markovski showed that sometimes a goal celebration can be just as enjoyable to watch as the goal itself; both young talents found the back of the net in different scenarios and under different pressures, and their resulting celebrations were brilliant in their own respectively unique ways.
Whinham was the very last player signed to Wellington Phoenix’s inaugural Liberty A-League squad this season. The 18-year-old – who was initially told she had missed out on a Phoenix contract this season – scored against Brisbane Roar to put her side 1-0 up at WIN Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
It was the first time the ‘Nix had ever led a Liberty A-League match, and despite eventually losing to Brisbane 3-2 it was Whinham’s raw, emotional celebration that stood out as the moment of the game, and a true moment to savour in club history.
“This was just a really beautiful moment for Alyssa Whinham,” said Paramount+ co-commentator Grace Gill at half-time.
“She had a lot of pressure but just managed to buy herself a little bit of space.
“I think her reaction is almost better than the goal; the disbelief in her face and the joy was just gorgeous.
“It is a really classy finish, a lovely little strike to the left. Perhaps Georgina Worth should’ve done a little bit better… but that celebration, that’s one that is going down in the history books.”
“I didn’t really believe it,” Whinham told Paramount+ pitch-side reporter Russ Gibbs at the break.
“I probably should’ve played it off a bit cooler… I was so surprised. I don’t score many goals.”
One player who looked not at all surprised that her own strike had found the back of the net was Victory’s Markovski. The 20-year-old scored the solitary goal in her side’s 1-0 win over Western Sydney Wanderers at CommBanks Stadium.
Markovski skipped ahead of a number of experienced Victory players in the queue to take the 74th-minute penalty awarded in favour of the visitors. With scores locked at 0-0, the pressure couldn’t have been higher.
The Victory youngster thrived on the occasion.
Her chosen celebration paid homage to a certain Cristiano Ronaldo, extending his global influence to Sydney, Australia and the Liberty A-League.
The strike, the celebration, and the oozing confidence of Markovski caught the eye of Paramount+ analyst Amy Chapman post-game.
“What a finish from the youngster,” Chapman said. “She stood up with so much confidence, she told everyone ‘I’m the penalty taker, ‘I’m the game-changer’.”
