ALW Round 4 Talking Points: Can anyone stop free-scoring Melbourne City?

Round 4 of the Liberty A-League had it all.

From Melbourne City’s dominant showing at Casey, to the performance of a star American forward, to Olimpicos in Perth and the unbeaten run that has flown completely under the radar.

Let’s get into it, here are the major talking points from the fourth round of the A-League Women’s season.

Are Melbourne City the team to beat?

Melbourne City have arguably been the most impressive A-League Women side through the opening month of the season.

Despite being without attacking duo Hannah Wilkinson and Holly McNamara in the first few weeks of the campaign, City have looked imperious going forward, banging in league high 12 goals in three games – which is one game less than four other teams in the competition.

Injury-replacement signing Maria Jose Rojas has filled in brilliantly for Wilkinson, scoring three goals already, and has been complimented brilliantly by the likes of Bryleeh Henry, Rhianna Pollicina, Emina Ekic and Daniela Galic in attack.

But if that wasn’t enough attacking firepower to make any defence quiver, then why not throw in Caitlin Karic for good measure?

The 17-year-old announced herself to the competition with one of the great maiden goals in the history of the competition – chipping Georgina Worth with her first touch on the pitch in their 5-1 win over Newcastle Jets on Saturday.

However, after beating the Jets, Brisbane Roar and Wellington Phoenix, bigger tests are yet to come – with the first of those being a monster Victorian derby against fellow undefeated side Western United on Saturday.

Haley’s on fire

Talking about great goals, how about Madison Haley’s solo effort on Saturday?

The American forward well and truly announced herself to the competition with an incredible showing at the Allianz Stadium – scoring two first-half goals in Sydney FC’s 4-0 drubbing of Brisbane Roar.

But it was her second goal that particularly caught the eye, as she capped off a sensational solo run, which saw her burn past Jamilla Rankin and then from an almost impossible angle loop the ball up and over Hensley Hancuff.

Her form, which has seen her score three goals already this season, has kept Matildas hopeful Remy Siemsen on the bench – who despite scoring two goals in her last two games, remains on the outside looking in.

And it certainly is a healthy dilemma for Sydney FC coach Ante Juric going forward as he looks to find his best balance in the attacking third.

“It’s first in best dressed,” he said. “Remy came in a little bit late and Maddie’s doing really well.

“That’s the way I’ve handled things in the past. It doesn’t matter if you’re 15 or 32, an international or not.

“You’ve got to bide your time, but she (Siemsen) is doing well off the bench.”

Chidiac’s olimpico

Alex Chidiac, take a bow.

On a weekend full of cracking goals, Chidiac saved potentially the best for last, with an incredible ‘Olimpico’ to wrap up all three points in Melbourne Victory’s 3-0 thrashing of Perth Glory on Sunday evening.

If you haven’t seen it, or heard of an ‘Olimpico’, then let the clip do the talking.

For Victory and maybe even Sydney fans (for the wrong reasons), it seemed like a case of deja vu, for a certain moment that happened in quite an important game back in April 2021…

Canberra continue unbeaten run

Has any team flown under the radar more than Canberra United throughout the opening month of the season?

Canberra came into the new season fresh off a promising end to last campaign that saw them go unbeaten in their last five.

Despite the eight months between seasons and a change in coach and personnel, the momentum generated from their solid end to last season has carried into this current campaign – going undefeated in their first three games of the season.

While the first two contests ended as draws, Canberra showed signs of growth in their 2-2 draw with Perth Glory and 1-1 stalemate with Brisbane, and built off those promising outings with a comfortable 3-0 win over Wellington Phoenix on Saturday.

Their midfield spearheaded by the likes of Grace Jale, Nicki Flannery, Vesna Milivojević and Grace Maher have been tremendous in the early going – with the latter duo combining for a goal and two assists each.

While Jale and veteran striker Michelle Heyman have two goals apiece, with the latter getting off the mark with a brace on Saturday afternoon.

“It comes from the training sessions,” Heyman said on Dub Zone, regarding their solid start.

“We’re putting in the hard every day, day in, and day out. And we’ve just got that mentality within the team. We all want to work for each and we’re never going to give up. I think the one thing that we can always work on is finishing the game stronger. 

“I think today was a good example of that. We managed to hold the ball with five minutes to go. There wasn’t really many shots against us and we look disciplined in our block.”