Welcome to Made With Mitre Moments, where aleagues.com.au brings you all the biggest talking points from each round of the 2024-25 Ninja A-League season.
Read on for all the biggest talking points from Round 21, thanks to Mitre.
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City boss highlights key reason why ‘invincible’ feat remains on the cars
Melbourne City are closing in on both the Premiership and an invincible season after seeing off Wellington Phoenix 1-0 in Round 21 of the Ninja A-League.
A first-half strike from the ever-impressive Holly McNamara proved to be the difference between the two sides on a day where City dominated the contest at Porirua Park.
The result saw City extend their lead at the summit to five points ahead of rivals Melbourne Victory whilst also increasing their unbeaten streak to 21 games with just two matches left in the regular season.
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“This has been a tough week for us, playing three games in seven days with the Champions League quarter-final, and then mid-week in Brisbane traveling,” said the City boss Michael Matricciani after the win.
“Obviously, we’ve been here for three days, which has been beautiful. We’ve been able to recover well and acclimatise and get used to this beautiful town.
“(We) enjoyed the match today and it was good to keep a clean sheet and win obviously.”
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Ever the danger for City, McNamara is now level in the race for the Golden Boot after slotting home a beautifully taken volley in the first-half before then spurning the chance to move clear of Victory striker Emily Gielnik.
Tasked with dispatching a spot-kick after Laura Hughes was fouled inside the box, McNamara saw her effort saved by Wellington keeper Carolina Vilao and was then substituted having earlier taken a hefty kick to the face which required lengthy treatment.
“She’s a top player (and) it was a good play, actually,” said Matricciani when asked for his take on McNamara’s goal and her overall performance.
“Initially the physio was like, ‘make the sub it’s a gash we won’t be able to stitch it in time’ but they were able to put a bit of a butterfly on there and patch it up and she was able to play.
“We had already planned that she was only going to be able to play 60 minutes anyway, because she had a big workload this week, and she’s not quite at 100% match fitness yet.
“So yeah, we were able to get another 10-12 minutes out of her and then obviously she missed the penalty, which she’ll be disappointed in, because I’m sure she’s looking at that top goalscorer race with a Gielnik but everyone’s pleased that we we won the match.”
“I felt we created a number of chances today and we probably limited them to only a handful of half chances. So all in all, very pleasing.
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He later added: “The main thing for us is how many chances we’re creating. I felt there was probably five or six really good moments with another four or five half moments and I think we only limited the Phoenix to maybe three, if that.
“So if we’re limiting chances to two, three, four and creating five, six, seven plus, you know, we should win more matches than we lose which we’ve been doing consistently all year.
“Maybe that’s the reason we haven’t lost yet.”
Roar hoping landmark trip will prove to be circuit-breaker
Brisbane Roar are now on the outside looking in when it comes to playing finals football this season following their 2-1 loss to Central Coast Mariners.
Despite taking the lead after just 21-seconds at Industree Group Stadium the Roar ultimately came away empty handed after their fifth-straight loss in the Ninja A-League.
“It’s been a big week for us,” said Brisbane Roar defender Holly McQueen. “We’re a little bit tired, but yeah, I thought we stayed in the game for most of it.
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“Unfortunately (we made) a couple of mistakes and they scored.”
Fresh off suffering a 4-0 home loss to Melbourne City in midweek the Roar arrived in Gosford knowing a win would have been a huge shot in the arm when it comes to their finals hopes while defeat would see them drop out of the top six for the first time this season.
“We’ve got a great vibe still going,” said McQueen when asked post-match whether or not morale had taken a dip within the confines of the dressing room.
“The team’s staying together with the staff. We’re just trying to get out of this little rough patch really.”
With two games left in the season the Roar now find themselves sat in seventh place on the ladder and two points outside the top six.
Desperately seeking something that might help turn their fortunes around, Brisbane are now set to undertake a landmark trip that the squad are hoping could prove to be a circuit-breaker when it comes to their poor form.
On Tuesday, head coach Alex Smith and his side head to Singapore for a week as part of a mid-season trip in which they’ll take part in activities with local football groups before playing a Singaporean NPL XI in a friendly.
“We’re all excited. It’s a trip away, which we haven’t done before, but yeah, we’re looking forward to it, and it’s just another bonding experience for us.
She added: “Yeah definitely. I think it’s going to be a great refresher and bringing us all closer and ready to go for the last couple games.”
Western ‘find their flow’ to lock-in finals berth
Western United captain Chloe Logarzo labelled her side’s 2-0 win over Newcastle Jets as their best performance this season after the club officially sealed a spot in this year’s Finals Series.
Goals from Catherine Zimmerman and Keiwa Hieda secured an impressive victory over the Jets in a game where Kat Smith’s side controlled the contest from start to finish.
As a result, that victory coupled with the Mariners’ 2-1 win over Brisbane Roar ensured Western booked their spot in the finals and Logarzo believes the squad are in a good spot.
“I think that was probably the best performance we’ve had as a team,” said the skipper when speaking at full-time.
“It’s definitely not easy, no game in this league is easy. So it was just good for us to find that flow and I felt like we could have kept going for another 20 minutes.”
Sat fourth on the ladder after registering back-to-back wins in the league, Western are now in pole position to secure a home elimination final and know they’ll achieve that feat should they match the Mariners’ results in the final two games of the season.
“I definitely think we were clinical in our possession. We were finding spaces really easily, and we were in between the pockets, which was something that we spoke about at training.
“Our ability to execute our plan was top notch. So (I’m) really, really happy with our performance, and it just goes to cap off the amazing week that we had at training.”
For Western, the performance against Newcastle could have been very different though given they had more than two weeks without a game heading into the clash at No.2 Sportsground.
“For us, it was just about being focused, and we really tried to work on ourselves this week. I know that sounds really cliche, but enjoying the process and two weeks off felt like a lifetime.
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“So I think that was just enjoyment for us to get back out there and play some minutes.”
Western now have another two weeks off due to the international break before facing third-placed Adelaide United at home on April 12 before an away trip to Wellington Phoenix to round out their season.
Canberra leap into finals contention after hard-fought away victory
Canberra United are now in prime position to play finals football for the first time since the 2020-21 Ninja A-League season after climbing into the top six with two games left to play.
A battling 2-1 victory away to Perth Glory on Saturday night saw Canberra overtake Brisbane Roar in the all-important sixth spot with legendary striker Michelle Heyman believing their confidence levels will now spike following their hard-fought win.
“This trip is extremely hard to fly over to the other side of Australia and to come away with three points,” said Heyman when speaking after the game.
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“It was everything we needed to, you know, continue to try and fight for finals football.”
Crucial to the win out West was midfielder Mary Stanic-Floody who, on her 50th Ninja A-League appearance, registered a goal and an assist to help fire her side to victory.
“Mary is just all class,” said Heyman when asked about the performance of her teammate after the game.
“You know, every time she comes onto the field, she knows her role and responsibility and just does it to a tee.
“I’m so proud of her from how far she’s come from last season to see where she’s at this season.
“Now she’s finishing all her chances, creating more chances and just, you know, she’s going to be one of those players to definitely watch through the A-League for the near future.
“I’m really proud of her, and just love everything she does, on, on and off the ball.”
Whilst Heyman will now head into CommBank Matildas camp for the upcoming fixtures against Korea Republic, the rest of her teammates will enjoy some much-needed downtime ahead of their final two league fixtures.
“Yeah, you know it’s going to be a tough one, but you know, we’re just going to have to jump in the ice baths and make sure we do everything so we’re ready for our next game against Wellington.
She went on to say: “Wellington are one of the best pressing teams there. (Annalie) Longo is the most creative player within this league so I think the main thing is try not to allow her to get on the ball and feed her players.
“If we can stop her, then we can kind of stop their whole team. So fingers crossed. You know, everyone can get as much rest and recover for that game.
“I’ve got to go jump into international break and have a couple of games there, so fingers crossed the body holds up. It’s all about rest and recovery from now on.”
Victory keep Premiership fight alive after Original Rivalry thriller
Melbourne Victory head into this weekend’s rearranged clash with the Wanderers knowing their Premiership chances are still alive after knocking off Adelaide United in dramatic fashion in Round 21.
With the contest tied at 1-1 heading into stoppage-time, midfielder Nikoletta Flannery popped up with her second goal of the game in the 91st minute to ensure Victory kept the heat on Melbourne City at the top of the league.
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The result temporarily moved Victory to within two points of league leaders City before Michael Matricciani’s side then defeated Wellington Phoenix on Sunday to re-establish their five-point lead at the top.
Having now extended their club-record unbeaten run to 10 games Victory will be confident of reducing that gap back down to two points with a win over lowly Western Sydney Wanderers this weekend.
In a further boost for Victory, head coach Jeff Hopkins will be able to call upon joint Golden Boot leader Emily Gielnik for this Sunday’s clash with the Wanderers.
Top scorer in the Ninja A-League this season alongside Melbourne City’s Holly McNamara, Gielnink has 12 goals to her name but was overlooked by CommBank Matildas interim head coach Tom Sermanni for the two-game series against Korea Republic and will therefore be front and centre for the clash against Western Sydney at Wanderers Football Park.
