Western United are on top of the A-League Women table after Melbourne City’s mid-season form slump continued against Adelaide.
While the Citizens stumbled to a 1-1 draw with the Reds on Sunday, Western were busy thumping Wellington 3-0 at the City Vista Recreation Reserve in one of their more complete performances of the season.
In Perth, Central Coast came from a goal down to beat Glory 3-1 at Macedonia Park in a win that propelled the Mariners into fifth spot.
At the Melbourne City Football Academy, the home side looked blunt in attack as they failed to win for a fourth consecutive game.
Teen star Daniela Galic appeared to have possibly pinched the points on 68 minutes, sliding in to place home Emina Ekic’s cross and finally break down the stubborn Adelaide defence.
But the Reds only needed two minutes to find a response, with a nicely taken corner from Alana Jancevski deflecting in off City defender Tijan McKenna.
Galic had a golden chance to clinch three points for City on 73 minutes, but a close-range shot was well saved by Reds keeper Annalee Grove.
The draw continues a bad run of form for the Citizens, who have dropped points to 11th-ranked Adelaide and 12th-placed Canberra in their past three games.
Western United took the lead soon before the half-hour through Chloe Logarzo’s eighth goal of the season.
Fellow striker Hannah Keane blasted a shot into the crossbar after being put clean through on goal, but Logarzo was able to nod the rebound home for 1-0.
Midfielder Grace Maher made it 2-0 in the second half, scoring directly from a corner with some eyebrows raised due to the Phoenix’s questionable defending.
Keane got in on the act late with a classy volley to fire home Aimee Medwin’s cross.
Meanwhile, Glory's form rut continued in the baking Perth heat on Sunday night, despite making a positive start against the Mariners.
With the temperature still hovering around 36 degrees at the 7.30pm WST kick-off, Glory hit the lead in the 25th minute following Millie Farrow's well-taken strike.
Kyah Simon equalised via a header in first-half stoppage time, and the Mariners went ahead in the 76th minute when Bianca Galic unleashed a sweet strike from outside the box.
The rout was complete in the 83rd minute when Annalise Rasmussen's low strike was powerful enough to hit the glove of Glory goalkeeper Morgan Aquino and still trickle in.
The result extended Perth's winless run to seven matches, with their fall from grace from top spot as spectacular as it has been unexpected.
Glory had just three shots on goal compared to Central Coast's 17, and Perth now face a major battle to regroup and fight their way back up the table with just five rounds remaining.
