With a goal and an assist in Round 18, Morgan Schneiderlin formally introduced himself to the Isuzu UTE A-League.
The prized Western Sydney Wanderers recruit had made two bench appearances and one start prior to his side’s Saturday night clash with Macarthur FC, but it was against the Bulls when the former Premier League midfielder truly arrived.
When the Frenchman put pen to paper on a loan move to Wanderland in January, there was conjecture surrounding where he’d fit in Western Sydney’s starting XI, with a stacked midfield already posing options aplenty to head coach Marko Rudan.
But what the former Southampton, Manchester United and Everton midfielder contributed to his side’s 4-0 mauling of the Bulls suggests he’s set to play an integral role for the third-placed Wanderers heading towards the finals series.
Schneiderlin followed up his assist to Romain Amalfitano’s finish on a classy team move, with his debut A-League Men goal from the spot in the second half; his Official A-Leagues Fantasy stocks rose as a result, with his 25 points the highest of any player across Round 18.
The 33-year-old led the Fantasy Team of the Week for Round 18, with 21-year-old Western United striker Noah Botic following closely behind with a 23-point haul thanks to a brace scored in a shock win over Newcastle Jets.
Then came Jamie Maclaren, who responded to a minor form blip in style by bagging two goals of his own in a 21-point fantasy weekend.
But Round 18 otherwise belonged to defenders in fantasy; the Team of the Week featured a five-man defence led by Tom Aldred (20 points) who was closely followed by Diego Caballo, Jack Clisby, Storm Roux and Gabriel Cleur, who all notched 19 points apiece.
Four Wanderers made the best XI for Round 18 as a result of their statement win over Macarthur.
Liberty A-League Golden Boot race steps up the pace as a fantasy gem states her case
Here comes Michelle Heyman.
The Matildas legend is on a tear of form as Canberra United make their charge towards the top four; the 34-year-old is now just two goals shy of Western United’s Hannah Keane in the Liberty A-League Golden Boot race – and is creeping toward the top of the fantasy scoring charts as a result of red-hot form.
Heyman’s scored nine goals this season, has an average five-round fantasy score of 11.2 and an impressive 15.7 average across her past three games.
The Canberra captain is only nine goals shy of 100 career goals in the Liberty A-League. She’s bagged four or her nine goals for the season in the last three rounds as Canberra have recorded three wins on the bounce.
Canberra still have five games to play this season; in Heyman’s last five appearances last season, she scored seven goals. The season before, she scored four goals in her last four games. Two goals against Western Sydney in Round 15 saw Heyman catch fire, and expect the flame to endure with the top four and Golden Boot still well within reach.
League-leaders dominate Liberty A-League Team of the Week
Prior to Round 15, Western United’s Kahli Johnson had taken the most shots (14) of any player league-wide without a goal in the 2022-23 season.
By the end of the first half of Western’s clash with the Jets, Johnson had a brace.
It was an afternoon where everything seemed to go right for not just Johnson, but for the league-leaders as a whole as they buried the Jets 6-0 at No.2 Sportsground on Sunday afternoon.
Six goals for Western, and six players in the Team of the Week rounded out a record-breaking weekend for the club.
Tyla-Jay Vlajnic was the weekend’s top fantasy scorer, with her huge 32-point haul bolstered by a long-range thunderbolt in the first half. Vlajnic and Johnson were joined in the Team of the Week by fellow Western defender Angela Beard, keeper Hillary Beall, midfielder Adriana Taranto and Golden Boot leader Hannah Keane, who bagged a goal and an assist in the 6-0 rout.
And a special mention to Glory midfielder Hana Lowry, who joined the Western six in Team of the Week with 29 points accumulated from two goals – including an incredible Olimpico from the same corner of Macedonia Park where Melbourne Victory’s Alex Chidiac scored in identical style earlier in the campaign.
