Melbourne City are 90 minutes away from being crowned one of the greatest ever Westfield W-League sides, but Kyah Simon thinks her team must raise their game again for next weekend’s Grand Final against Sydney FC.
City stormed into their fourth Grand Final by beating Western Sydney Wanderers 5-1 in Sunday’s Semi Final in Victoria and would achieve an unbeaten Premiership and Championship double should they beat the Sky Blues.
With both teams boasting three Championship titles to their name apiece, the chance to record a fourth adds another blockbuster element to what is shaping as a titanic contest.
However, Simon – who scored a double in Sunday’s 5-1 thrashing of Western Sydney – is adamant City must keep their feet on the ground and stay focused on the task at hand.
“I think it’s not having complacency,” said the Westfield Matildas when asked how City could make an unforgettable season even better.
“We know there’s one more game to go. We know the Grand Final’s the biggest one of the season.
“If we can stick to what we’re doing, execute our game plan even better… I know there’s still many more chances that we could have put away.
“My miss in the first half was probably miss of the season!
“But I think there’s definitely areas of the game that we can tidy up a little bit more.”
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Rado Vidosic would certainly concur with that assessment. Given what has been a frankly remarkable campaign in the defensive department (City conceded just four goals in 12 regular season matches), the club from Bundoora have conceded twice in their previous two fixtures against Brisbane and the Wanderers.
The way City’s usually stoic defence was caught napping at the start of the second half, which resulted in Cortnee Vine pegging a goal back and going an fresh air-swing away from potentially making it 3-2, should generate plenty of hope from the Sydney camp.
Reigning Champions Sydney will be desperate to defend their crown and booked their spot following Saturday’s 1-0 win over Melbourne Victory, courtesy of Veronica Latsko’s strike.
“I’ve played with a fair few of the Sydney girls and spent a fair bit of my W-League career playing the the Sky Blue,” Simon added.
“For me and a lot of the girls, we know a lot of the other Sydney FC players and we’re familiar with their style of play. First and foremost, we need to focus on our own job.”
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