W-League Playoffs: Melbourne City FC defeat Canberra United

In the second W-League Playoffs Semi-Final, Melbourne City FC topped Canberra United in overtime 1-0 in front of 5,072 fans at Gio Stadium.

Here are the lineups:

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First half highlights:

• 15′ (15th minute). Checker’s shot goes over crossbar.
• 23′ Stott passes to Fishlock whose shot just misses wide right.
• 29′ Tymrak’s shots hits the crossbar. Does not go in.
• 31′ Kinga’s shot from 25 yards goes over the bar.
• 39′ Ochs receives a nice cross for an easy goal, but she misses badly.
• 43′ Raso’s shot results in an easy save by goalkeeper.
• Halftime score 0-0.

Second Half Highlights:

• 55′ Ochs shot goes over bar.
• 59′ Canberra had some passes that built to a promising buildup, but a poor cross ended the threat.
• 62′ Spencer led the charge and shoots, but is the ball is saved. After the ball bounces around penalty box area a few times, it is cleared away by Melbourne defense.
• 67′ Alleway heads the ball, but is an easy save for the goalie.
• 70′ Once again, Ochs shot goes over crossbar.
• 72′ Stott’s shot misses.
• 81′ Ochs shoots again, but is saved by goalkeeper.
• 83′ Another easy save for goalkeeper as this time Ochs shoots from 25 yards.
• 90′ Fishlock shots just misses
• 90+2′ Kinga’s shot is saved.
• 90+2′ DeVanna’s shot is also saved.
• Score 0-0. We go to two 15 minute overtimes. No “golden goal”.

First Overtime Highlights:

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• 100′ Fishlock shot hits crossbar.
• 103′ Another Kinga shot results in an easy save.
• 105′ Allen has a dreaded “cross/shot” that goes out of play harmlessly.

Second Overtime Highlights:

• 107′ Corner kick bounces around penalty box where Fishlock gets a clean shot. GOAL! Melbourne City now leads 1-0.
• 109′  The referee did not see this, but it appeared that DeVanna intentionally elbowed Fishlock in the back, and Fishlock was down shortly.
• 113′ Yanez almost receives a nice cross that could have made the game 2-0, but loses possession.
• 115′ Brush receives a yellow card. Things have been a little “chippy” the past few minutes since DeVanna’s shot on Fishlock. Wonder if there was some taunting after the goal. The Canberra players were not this aggressive prior to second overtime.
• 120′ Flannery misses shot.
• Game over. Final Score Melbourne City 1 -0 Canberra United

Overall Comments:

• Canberra wasted many opportunities with shots . They had 22 shots, but only five were on target. Those that were shots on goal were hardly threatening to the goalkeeper.
• Despite the appearance in the second half, Melbourne City out-possessed Canberra 55 to 45%.
• Canberra’s style was short pass oriented, where Melbourne had more of a direct style approach.
• Both defenses held their own.
• However, Melbourne’s attack is a bit anemic compared to Canberra. Fishlock is great player, but had to play out of position as a forward. Her true strength is being defensive midfielder. She has stepped up to be a player-manager for the club at the time, and found a way to move them forward, even without putting herself in her facvorite attacking center midfielder role.
• You can watch a replay of the entire match here.

Next: Perth vs Sydney semi-final playoff

Next weekend, on Sunday, February 12th at 3:30 AM Eastern Time (U.S.) is the championship between Melbourne City FC and Perth Glory! Go to ESPN3 if you are an insomniac and you can watch live!