Strap yourselves in, the top four race in the Liberty A-League is heating up.
With the international break over, the business end of the A-League Women’s season got underway on Saturday, with both Canberra United and Perth Glory closing the gap on the top-four.
Fifth-placed Canberra continued their mini resurgence, making it three wins on the trot in their convincing 3-0 win over Western Sydney Wanderers at McKellar Park – thus cutting the gap to only two points behind Melbourne Victory in fourth (who are in action on Sunday against Adelaide United).
READ: Heyman stars as Canberra close the gap on top four in Wanderers thrashing
Njegosh Popovich’s side were electric out of the gate and took an early two-goal lead thanks to a brace from their in-form striker Michelle Heyman, who continued her incredible run as of late, making it five goals in the last three.
Sasha Grove rounded out the result with her first A-League Women’s goal, thus sealing yet another all-important win in Canberra’s late charge for a finals berth.
“I don’t know when (was) the last time Canberra United won three games on the trot … it’s heading in the right direction and we’re taking one game at a time and moving forward,” Popovich said post-game.
This has been an incredible turnaround by Canberra from where they were a little under a month ago following consecutive 5-0 defeats at the end of January.
Now, the focus turns to the final five games of the season, with clashes against Adelaide and the Wanderers (again) followed by a difficult run to the finish against all three Victorian sides – Victory, Western United and Melbourne City – with the latter two being on the road.
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However, the clash against Victory on March 18 shapes as a monster clash at McKellar Park, given what could be on the line for both teams.
Meanwhile, Western Sydney’s hopes of making a late dash for the four took an enormous blow, with Kat Smith’s side now sitting eight points outside the top four with only four games remaining.
Later in the day, Perth also continued their mini-run, making it four wins in a row with a 2-0 win over fellow finals contender Brisbane Roar at Macedonia Park.
A double from Hana Lowry proved to be the difference, with her second goal, an ‘Olimpico’, being the pick of the bunch – looping the ball over Roar keeper Isabella Shuttleworth with her in-swinging corner.
Alex Epakis’ side now sit only four points behind Victory with a game-in-hand and will have two on the reigning champions at the end of the round following the latter’s clash with Adelaide.
READ: Lowry’s stunning ‘Olimpico’ headlines Perth’s fourth straight win – ‘She just has moments of magic!’
The Glory coach has challenged the Perth players to treat every game like a final from now on in, saying weeks ago that they thrive with their backs against the wall.
“It’s an exciting opportunity and one that the team and I are going to relish,” Epakis said in early February.
Our backs are against the wall, we’re not expected, based on where we are at the moment, to make the four, but our thinking internally is that if we give every week the performance that we just had and treat every week like a Final, we give ourselves a real chance.
“We love doing it the hard way, so I’m definitely not writing it off.
“I want to give us every opportunity and I know the players want to push for that and let’s see where we go.”
Again, like last season, Perth are the hunters, chasing the pack late in the season and play only two of the current top-four in their final six games – starting with a home clash against the Wanderers next weekend.
But unlike last campaign, where they fell just short of the post-season, the Glory are hoping to go one step further and be involved in competitive football come April.
Meanwhile for Brisbane, their finals hopes took a hit, with the Roar sitting six points outside the top-four with five games to go – with next weekend’s clash against Wellington Phoenix shaping up as a ‘must win’ game for Garrath McPherson’s side.
Follow along LIVE as KEEPUP brings you all the goals, highlights, up to date scores and biggest talking points from the Liberty A-League on Saturday, brought to you by neds.
