Melbourne Victory have rescued a point at the death against Canberra United in their A-League Women clash on Tuesday night, but the draw could still have a big impact on their finals chances.
CANBERRA UNITED – MELBOURNE VICTORY
- Canberra drew Melbourne 2-2 in the A-League Women.
- Late goals by Alex Chidiac and Tiffany Eliadis saved the point for Victory.
- Victory remain fourth in the ladder, Canberra seventh.
More A-League Women’s news can be found on The Women’s Game.
The visitors found goals through Alex Chidiac and Tiffany Eliadis to rescue a 2-2 draw, having fallen behind 2-0 when United struck through Chelsee Washington and Michelle Heyman at Viking Park.
“We definitely struggled a little bit. It’s fatigue from back-to-back games, but at halftime we knew we had to come here and get some points,” Victory substitute Chidiac said.
“It’s really important when we’re trying to fight for finals, so I’m really proud of the girls for giving everything in the end there to get the point.”
The hosts found two first-half goals and looked on track to net just their second win of the season, particularly when 17-year-old keeper Chloe Lincoln denied Victory’s Maja Markovski from the penalty spot as they looked to get back into the game.
Washington opened the scoring on 41 minutes, blasting a shot home from close range after otherwise-impressive Victory keeper Casey Dumont bobbled a save, before Heyman found herself with space on the stroke of halftime and chipped the ball home for the 2-0 advantage.
Two in two for Michelle Heyman 🔥@CanberraUnited take the 2⃣-0⃣lead before the break.
Follow LIVE: https://t.co/iMOJMi0gPs#CBRvMVC #WeAreALeagues pic.twitter.com/Uli60oSQ8J
— Liberty A-League (@aleaguewomen) February 22, 2022
After Canberra’s one-two punch, Victory thought they’d found a lifeline when Hayley Taylor-Young hacked down Catherine Zimmerman in the box, but Lincoln guessed correctly from the spot kick, diving to her right and controlling Markovski’s shot.
Victory finally pulled one back on 82 minutes as Courtney Nevin’s cross was met by Chidiac’s looping header.
She is the game changer 😍
Alex Chidiac comes off the bench to get @gomvfc back in the game with a header that’s finished to perfection.
Follow LIVE: https://t.co/iMOJMi0gPs#CBRvMVC #WeAreALeagues pic.twitter.com/qXyi0xq45c
— Liberty A-League (@aleaguewomen) February 22, 2022
And Eliadis levelled things in stoppage time with another header from a Nevin cross beating a fumbling Lincoln.
The draw meant little for United’s season with the team already guaranteed to miss finals, but it has potentially serious ramifications for Victory.
Instead of going four points clear of fifth-placed Perth Glory, Victory are now just two points ahead with each team having two games left before finals.
Victory now travel to Adelaide before closing their season with another clash against Canberra.
“It’s disappointing, but a good thing to take out of it is the fact we’ve got that winning mentality, we can put goals away and it’s just about continuing that for the whole game,” Canberra youngster Sasha Grove said.
“It was a disappointing start to the season, very frustrating, but it’s good to see that we’re starting to climb up the ladder a little bit even though we have a little bit of the season left, but that’s no reason to stop.”
The full A-League Women’s schedule can be found using this link.