Western United fell to a narrow 2-1 Ninja A-League Women defeat against Melbourne Victory at Ironbark Fields on Saturday night.
All three goals came from corners with Holly Furphy and Kayla Morrison netting for Victory either side of an Emily Gielnik own goal that had United level at the break.
Kat Smith’s side will look to recover ahead of an away trip to Perth next week with five matches remaining in the season to cement a spot in the top six.
Western United team news
There was one change to the Western United line-up with Alyssa Dall’Oste returning in goal and Natalie Picak being elevated onto the bench with Chloe Lincoln missing out after arriving home from Matildas duty.
Kahli Johnson started up front in her final game for the Club while Isabel Dehakiz continued in midfield with Melissa Taranto still out due to a knee issue.
First half
Western United started the game positively but a Melbourne Victory set piece put that to bed 10 minutes in as Furphy controlled and fired into the bottom corner after United failed to clear.
The home side remained upbeat, though, and sought to stretch Victory’s defence with balls in behind in the wide areas.
Chloe Logarzo came closest with a fierce long-range drive that Courtney Newbon needed a couple of attempts to claim control of.
Adriana Taranto then created a fantastic opening on the half hour mark, spinning her defender before finding Johnson in the box, but Victory’s defence recovered well to clear.
Western continued to will itself forward and Ironbark Fields felt a goal coming, it eventually doing so right on the stroke of half-time.
Grace Maher won a header from Adriana Taranto’s corner and Claudia Bunge and Gielnik couldn’t deal with it, the latter ultimately being credited with an own goal as the ball bobbled over the goal line from her final touch.
Second half
United had the deserved goal and the momentum to finish the first half, but that was completely taken away at the start of the second when Morrison headed home from another corner.
That goal seemed to take the sting out of Western’s resolve and Victory nearly doubled their lead 10 minutes later as Claudia Mihocic made a spectacular goal-line block to deny Rachel Lowe.
Kat Smith rolled the dice from the bench and United picked up the ball in some good attacking areas, but the final ball into the box was often found wanting.
Long-range efforts became the Green and Black’s best look at an equaliser as Adriana Taranto and Sara Eggesvik both flashed efforts over the crossbar, and set pieces remained a significant threat too thanks to Maher’s lethal left boot.
United found a second wind in stoppage time thanks to a couple of those repeat set pieces and lofted balls into the area, but Newbon was strong on her goal line and Victory were able to clear without too much fuss.
While slipping to defeat, Western United remains in fourth place on the Ninja A-League table with five matches remaining, the next of which comes away from home against Perth Glory next Friday night.
