Two goals and an assist from Matildas star Cortnee Vine have helped Sydney FC see off Perth in a clash of A-League Women top-four sides.
At Leichhardt Oval, the Sky Blues winger’s stunning contributions carried her side to a 3-1 win against the visiting Glory as they closed the gap to top-ranked Melbourne City to just three points.
Saturday’s three other fixtures all ended in 2-1 scorelines; Melbourne Victory beat Brisbane, Adelaide United took care of Western Sydney and Western United saw off Central Coast.
Sydney superstar Vine purred through her side’s triumph, with clinical finishes in the 59th and 86th minutes delivering them the three points.
Princess Ibini put her through on goal to lash home the first, while a divine Indiana Dos Santos ball allowed Vine to round Perth keeper Morgan Aquino and glide home the second.
She had earlier created her side’s opener that was cooly slotted by Maddie Caspers, although the Glory did level things at 1-1 through Quinley Quezada.
At Perry Park, a late Rachel Lowe penalty carried Victory back inside the top six with their 2-1 win against the Roar.
First-half goals from Victory’s Emma Checker and Roar’s Tameka Yallop cancelled each other out, before Lowe calmly converted from the spot on 77 minutes to seal the crucial win.
Checker opened the scoring early after chaos ensued from a corner, alertness allowing her to lash the ball in before defenders could react.
Yallop equalised on 36 minutes, Melbourne keeper Courtney Newbon bobbling a shot straight into her path for her to head home.
Yallop had the Roar’s best chance to take something from the game late, including a blasted shot from distance that an outstretched Newbon needed to get a hand to and force into the crossbar.
Earlier, Chrissy Panagaris netted in the 85th minute at Coopers Stadium to give struggling Adelaide their fourth win of the season.
The Reds had seemed destined to walk away with nothing after midfielder Hannah Blake gave away a costly penalty with a poor foul on defender Vicky Bruce in the 42nd minute.
Matildas forward Amy Harrison then smashed the ball home to find the opener at 44 minutes, before blowing a kiss to the booing Adelaide fans.
A dogged Blake found redemption in the second half thanks to a clever ball from Chelsie Dawber.
Just evading the toes of Harrison, Blake collected the ball and slotted it easily past goalkeeper Kaylie Collins to level the scores, before Panagaris scored herself.
In Hobart, Western United continued their red-hot form with a 2-1 victory over the Central Coast Mariners.
With the sides meeting for the first time in the A-League Women, Jaclyn Keane broke the early 1-1 deadlock in the 28th minute with what would prove to be the match-winner.
An Adriana Taranto effort rebounded off the crossbar, landing neatly in front of Keane, who delivered her third goal in two games to wrap up the points for United.
It was second-placed United's third consecutive win - they have now lost just once in seven matches - while Central Coast were condemned to their sixth loss of the season.
