Mariana Speckmaier scored again and reigning Ninja A-League premiers Melbourne City defeated Western Sydney Wanderers 2-0 to keep their undefeated record intact.
Speckmaier – an off-season recruit from Wellington Phoenix – scored her third goal of the season while Alexia Apostolakis’ heavily deflected 94th-minute free-kick found the back of the net as City proved too strong for the winless Wanderers at AAMI Park in Melbourne on Saturday.
The Venezuela international, who also scored three goals to help the club qualify for March’s AFC Women’s Champions League quarter-finals, broke the deadlock in the 42nd minute.
With the result, City returned to the top of the table by two points through five rounds though Brisbane Roar have a game in hand, while Western Sydney remain bottom with one point so far.
City were without in-form American import Lourdes Bosch due to a minor quad strain after she had scored three goals in her first four games. Leticia McKenna, meanwhile, returned in place of Leah Davidson who is currently in CommBank Matildas camp as Bryleeh Henry also made her way back into the XI.
It was a dominant opening half for City at AAMI Park, where the 2023-24 Grand Finalists tallied 14 shots, four on target and 53.6% possession while the winless Wanderers failed to muster a single attempt on goal.
Speckmaier was at the heart of it – she hit the post and the crossbar following an incredible long-range effort inside the first 19 minutes, while she was also denied by Western Sydney goalkeeper Sham Khamis.
But Speckmaier and City were not to be denied three minutes prior to the interval when Kathryn Harvey’s brilliant pass released the Venezuelan, who made a darting run in behind and finished clinically.
City continued to push numbers forward in search of more goals in the second half and they managed to strike again deep into stoppage time after Apostolakis’ free-kick took a wicked deflection.
Reigning Julie Dolan Medallist Sophie Harding had a chance to reduce the deficit in the final minute of stoppage time but sliced her shot wide.
