Sydney FC’s season continues to soar after they defeated Sam Kerr’s Perth Glory 2-0 on Sunday in the WA capital.
The win moves the Sky Blues into second on the Westfield W-League ladder behind Brisbane Roar.
Goals to Lisa De Vanna and Chloe Logarzo secured Sydney’s sixth win from their last seven games and ensured Ante Juric’s side was firmly in the mix for a home final early next month.
Glory was unable to find the back of the net for a third straight match and now faces and uphill battle to qualify for the finals with just two matches to play in the regular season.
Glory skipper Sam Kerr caused early headaches for the Sky Blues defence, sending a powerful header straight into the arms of Sydney goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe in just the third minute.
Kerr set up fellow striker Rachel Hill for the potential opener in the 19th minute with a searching low cross from the left, only for Sydney centre back Liz Ralston to close her down at last second.
However, less than a minute later, former Glory player De Vanna swung the momentum Sydney’s way when she intercepted a wayward pass out of defence before sweetly curling the ball past Glory custodian Melissa Maizels.
Kerr looked set to pull one back for Glory in the 29th minute when she was played through into the box by Marianna Tabain, but her strike cannoned into the side netting.
Glory’s defence was consistently stretched by Sydney trio De Vanna, Caitlin Foord and Princess Ibini-Isei and it led to another defensive error just four minutes after the break that saw Logarzo push the ball into the back of an empty net and seal the result for the visitors.
Hill was presented with the two best chances of the second, but was either closed down or slipped at the crucial moment to continue a frustrating run in front of goal for Glory.
Sydney’s Kylie Ledbrook was sent off in the 72nd minute after picking up her second yellow card, however, Glory was unable to capitalise on having an extra player on the pitch.
A delighted Sydney coach Ante Juric lauded his players for pushing through what turned out to be a scrappy win.
“Perth is a tough team and they’re vying for the top four, so it’s always a tough trip and we’re not the best travellers, so to get these three points is excellent,” he said.
“I actually wrote at the start of the game that this was going to be a fight of a game, it’s not going to be pretty, so if you don’t want to fight for the game we’re not going to win.”
