Four-goal first-half lifts Victory to win over Pheonix, bringing top two into focus.

A dominant first-half display has lifted Melbourne Victory to a 5-3 A-League Women win over Wellington, moving them to seven games unbeaten and boosting their hopes of a top-two finish

Melbourne Victory boss Jeff Hopkins has been adamant that every team in this year’s A-League Women is capable of beating anyone on their day but, if his side is going to keep playing the way they have in recent weeks, it would take quite a special day to stop them. 

What was nominally an own-goal by Phoenix keeper Rylee Foster – the custodian, in reality, able to do very little about Alex Chidiac’s thunderbolt rebounding off the crossbar, off her back, and into the net – capped off a sizzling opening 45 minutes at the Home of the Matildas, in which a Beattie Goad brace and strike from Tori Hansen had them in the ascendency. 

By the time Rachel Lowe was making it 5-1 in the 64th minute, Victory had well and truly put the game to bed. Yes, the Phoenix would add two late goals to make it 5-3 in the end, restoring some level of respectability to the scoreline and giving coach Paul Temple something to build upon heading into what he acknowledges is a series of must-win games. But when the game was on the line and the points were there to be won, the visitors couldn’t lay a glove on their foes. 

Though some wayward finishing wasn’t what she needed on an individual level given her Olympic aspirations, on another day she could have had two or three, Emily Gielnik was continuously finding space on the flanks, often because defenders were simply bouncing off her as they attempted to challenge. In her first game back after a break for her medical studies, Goad looked like she’d never left as she ran at defenders and got into dangerous positions – to the extent that she was surprised how well she settled back in after the game. 

A backline anchored by the positioning and athleticism of Kayla Morrison played a large role in Victory looking so comfortable by snuffing out almost every attempt by the Pheonix to get in behind, with Emma Checker experiencing something of a second wind this season as a right-back in the absence of Jess Nash. Moved into the starting lineup in place of the injured Elise Kellond-Knight, Paige Zois had perhaps her best game in a Victory shirt, looking assured and in command of the midfield.

Fadeouts after some late changes are never good but if you’re going to have them, the best time to have them is when you’ve scored five goals and it’s effectively indistinguishable from putting your cue in the rack

“With the ball and without the ball, the whole performance, the set-up with a really good defensive display,” said Hopkins. “Real high-intensity pressure and pressing. A lot of it was done in their half. We talked about that before the game. That was going to be the key and that kind of set us off. We won the ball in good areas and we were pretty clinical when we went forward.”

To the visitor's credit, they did rally back and narrowed the margin in the second half, ‘winning’ the second stanza 3-1 after an own-goal from Jamilla Rankin, a 90th-minute effort from Michaela Robertson and 91st-minute blast from Mariana Speckmaier. That late flurry also forced Courtney Newbon into a series of sharp saves at the end, perhaps just enough to make you think about what might have been if you’re of a ‘Nix persuasion. 

But for all the positives, Paul Temple's side are now on a three-game losing run and remain five points back of the top six with five games remaining on their season. They'll need to make a trip to an also desperate Perth Glory next Friday, before then playing hosts to high-flying Sydney FC.  

“The first half was probably the furthest away from what we want to be,” said Temple. “There was very little belief in what we were doing and we conceded some sloppy goals. It was very, very disappointing and I think the girls were extremely disappointed with themselves as well. We really didn't put anything together and they've got such good players that they were hurting us. It was difficult to contain.”

Conversely, it’s now nine goals scored across their past two games at home for Victory, after previously defeating Western Sydney 4-0 before the international break. Unbeaten in their last seven games, they’ve ensured that they remain just a point adrift of third-placed Sydney in the race for finals and are now within two points of suddenly out-of-sorts second-placed Melbourne City and the bye-week in the first round of the finals Dario Vidošić’s side currently possess. They’ve got Adelaide away next week but they’ll play both before the season is out.

“We tried to take the momentum from the Western Sydney game into today and sometimes it kind of dies across that FIFA break,” said Hopkins. “But the type of training we've been doing, the intensity that the girls have been training at, we're getting a real focus on that. We can't put the performances in without the training performance.”