Can anyone stop Western United? The Liberty A-League leaders remain the team to beat thanks to their demolition of Canberra United on Saturday.
Western showed no mercy in a 5-0 rout of Canberra at McKellar Park, where the table-toppers opened up a five-point lead atop the table through 10 matches.
Golden Boot leader Hannah Kane scored twice to take her tally to nine goals for the season as Western used a five-goal first half to dispatch a Canberra side reeling after consecutive 5-0 defeats.
It has been a remarkable debut season for the league’s newest team – Western, who have already beaten defending champions Melbourne Victory, reigning premiers Sydney FC and Melbourne City this term.
Network 10 commentator and Dub Zone panellist Teo Pellizzeri believes more tests await Mark Torcaso’s Western, but he was full of praise for the team from Melbourne’s west.
“I’m now starting to wonder where their next defeat is coming from,” he said post-match on Dub Zone.
“The (Western Sydney) Wanderers game did come with two significant outs. They rested Aimee Medwin and Alana Cerne. Alana Cerne has been back in and played every minute of every game that they’ve had her in the squad for. The one time she wasn’t there… I don’t know.
“If the pinch of squad rotation comes back to bite Western again, I think the next time they play Melbourne City will be really telling. Because Melbourne City will feel they created more than enough to beat Western in that game but didn’t take those chances and Western did. Chloe Logarzo was a game changer.
I still think the next time they play Sydney FC and Melbourne City, they don’t play Melbourne Victory again because we don’t quite have the complete home-and-away fixture. So we will learn a lot about them then.
“In terms of the ability to pick off the lower teams in the table… I was a bit critical of them on how they laboured past Wellington a second time – that late 1-0 win. They’ve dispatched Brisbane quite comfortably. They’ve really pummelled Canberra today.
They look like a team that won’t drop their bundle against the lower half of the ladder.
It was Western’s first match without marquee Jess McDonald, who departed the club at the conclusion of her guest contract to return to parent club Racing Louisville in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).
FIFA Women’s World Cup-winning striker McDonald was an experienced and important figure in the dressing room but Western continued their upward trajectory in her absence on Saturday.
Fellow American Keane was in devastating form with a two-goal display, while Mel Taranto and Canadian import Danielle Steer bagged their first goals for Western before Sydney Cummings capped the scoring at the end of the opening half.
If rival clubs thought the wheels would fall off without McDonald, they thought wrong.
A-Leagues great Cath Cannuli added: “I’m sure there’s a lot of teams out there thinking when are these guys going to start dropping points?
“They were probably banking on Jess McDonald leaving and Western United not being able to fill those shoes but I think the connection in that squad and the harmony and the way they’ve build this team prior to coming into the competition.
It’s a hard bond to break. I’m just loving their journey in the competition. I love what they’re doing.
‘One of the darkest days in Canberra United’s history’
Pellizzeri did not mince his words after Canberra suffered to consecutive 5-0 losses, having also lost by the same scoreline against the Liberty A-League’s bottom side – Wellington Phoenix.
“One of the darkest days in Canberra United’s history as a club,” he said following the heavy defeat.
Canberra’s first-half collapse sparked an extensive dissection of the club’s demise from a Liberty A-League powerhouse.
Three-time champions, sixth-placed Canberra – who are seven points outside the play-off spots – have only featured in the finals once over the past five seasons.
During Dub Zone’s half-time break, Pellizzeri and Cannuli questioned whether Canberra’s current set up is conductive to success.
Pellizzeri asked: “Is this the needer of a team that needs a new operating system?
“I asked the same question after the 6-0 loss to Sydney Fc just over a year ago and that conversation a little bit but then it faded away. People kind of made peace with the idea that what other alternative do you have?
But are we in a situation now where Canberra literally need a top-down review of how they exist in this competition moving forward?
Cannuli added: “Teo, I agree with you. They haven’t been the Canberra United of the start of this season where they were the top hitters. They had great facilities, they had great funding. Obviously they were connected with the AIS too.
“There were so many point of differences back then. Now, they’re slowly swaying away.
“I can tell you firsthand. Denise O’Sullivan that was at Canberra under Heather Garriock at the time. The following season we swooped in as Western Sydney Wanderers and took her into our team. It was a contract negotiation.
“If you don’t have the funding to attract these top players… you can see the players Canberra United actually have – Michelle Heyman, Ellie Brush has gone back there. It’s the loyalty. Grace Maher, she is at Canberra and stayed there.
But you can only hang on to loyalty for long. How much longer does Michelle Heyman and Ellie Brush have in this competition?
“Does Grace Maher get to a point and say, ‘you know what, I want to start winning Championships again’ and a Melbourne City or a Sydney FC come after her and she decides to go away.
“It’s definitely a conversation that needs to be had.”
Report – AAP
Canberra United’s season slumped to a new low, thrashed 5-0 by Western United on their home patch in a second straight embarrassing defeat.
A week on from a shocking 5-0 loss at previously winless Wellington Phoenix, Canberra were brushed aside again, copping another five goals in the first half as they struggled to match the Liberty A-League’s best side.
Canberra head coach Njegosh Popovich said Canberra’s sweltering conditions had played a factor, but questioned his team’s ability to dig deep when things went against them.
“We continued on from where we left off last week into the first half,” he said.
“It’s a little bit of mental instability, I think the heat plays a factor in the brain more than it does in the legs, although admittedly it’s a tough thing to cope with.
“We were second to a lot of balls, but in saying that we gifted a couple of goals today that were uncharacteristic and we’ll probably not do again.”
Any hopes of a bounce-back result for Canberra were snuffed early, with the visitors striking twice in the opening 13 minutes.
Canadian forward Danielle Steer played a huge role in both.
First Steer powered above Canberra defender Emma Ilijoski to nod home a cross inside five minutes, then her clever touch put Mel Taranto through on goal to tuck the ball home for a second soon after.
The red-hot striker found two goals to keep her brilliant form rolling as she found the net for a fourth straight game, before an error from Canberra keeper Chloe Lincoln let Sydney Cummings complete the scoreline on 42 minutes.
Steer, in her first start for United after signing with the club earlier this month, said things were clicking for the league leaders.
“Coming from a team perspective, we’re really happy walking away with a win today,” she said.
The home side will be wondering what has happened to their season after an impressive start, having now lost five of their last seven matches and conceded 19 goals in the process.
Popovich said his troops would need to find the mental toughness to emerge from their epic form slump.
“We’ll try and instills a lot more confidence, we do have a young side, that’s not an excuse but just the facts,” he said.
“We need to be more resilient in matches and when things don’t go your way, you need to stand up.
“There’s some realities for us and we need to hold ourselves accountable and look at where we made some mistakes and errors and see where we can improve upon those.”
