Sydney FC turned in a monster performance to give Canberra United their second defeat of the season with a 6-1 win at Lambert Park
Canberra United were handed their second loss of the 2016/17 Westfield W-League season on Tuesday as they were beaten 6-1 by a red hot Sydney FC outfit at Lambert Park.
A brace from Remy Siemsen and goals from Kyah Simon, Nicola Bolger, Leena Khamis and Francisca Ordega was far too much for Canberra, who found the scoreboard through a Yukari Kinga free-kick.
Head Coach Rae Dower refused to look for excuses after the match, accepting that they simply were not good enough on the day.
“They [the players] know that it was very un-Canberra like and their next game can’t come quick enough for us,” she said.
“That is probably going to be a blessing, that we’re back on the park again in three days.”
The match began evenly with both sides looking for an opening but it was Sydney who struck first from a set piece.
Yukari Kinga was booked for a challenge on Teresa Polias, and Bolger’s curling cross into the box beat everyone and found the far corner of Trudy Burke’s goal.
Ten minutes later Sydney doubled their advantage, as a long-range effort deflected off the Canberra defence and fell perfectly to Siemsen who wasted no time in tucking home tidily.
Canberra looked to get back into the contest but struggled to create clear cut chances as the half wore on, with the best chance coming as Ashleigh Sykes threaded Hayley Raso in behind the Sky Blue defence but the winger could only find Shamiran Khamis in the Sydney goal.
Down two at the break, the visitors needed to respond early but were set back just seven minutes into the second half as Kyah Simon calmly slotted home a nice through ball to extend the home side’s advantage. And it was four just minutes later as Siemsen slotted home her second from a loose ball in the box.
Rae Dower looked to change things up as she handed Lisa De Vanna her first Canberra United minutes, coming on for Emma Checker, but it was Kinga who hit back for United with 25 minutes remaining. Alanna Kennedy was dismissed for a second bookable offence and Kinga took full advantage of the set-piece as she curled home into the bottom corner of the Sydney goal.
But United’s hope was to be short lived as Ordega hit back only moments later, tucking home past Trudy Burke on the break before Leena Khamis made sure of the victory with 10 minutes to go off Caitlin Foord’s square ball.
The defeat snapped United’s six match undefeated streak stretching back to Round 3, and leaves them chasing Sydney FC and Perth Glory when they welcome Adelaide United to McKellar Park next Saturday.
Dower admitted that the side is looking forward to playing in the Capital again after a long stretch of games outside Canberra.
“It’s been a long six weeks on the road,” she said.
“We really can’t wait to get back to some familiar surroundings at McKellar Park, the girls can sleep in their own bed, and travel a short distance to the game,”
“We hope we can get a great crowd there to help cheer us on as we look to bounce back after a disappointing loss today.”
