Melbourne City defeated the Sydney FC by 1-0 in the grand final game of the Australian W- League to clinch the title on Saturday in front of a near-empty AAMI Park in Melbourne. Melbourne City also became the first-ever team to win the championship four times till now as the home team was led by the skipper Steph Catley as she scored the only goal of the match to lift the title for her side.
.@stephcatley puts us up in the Granny! #WLeagueGF #4history 🎥 @FOXFOOTBALL pic.twitter.com/WEfmyvBXVd
— Melbourne City FC (@MelbourneCity) March 21, 2020
For her match-winning goal, Steph Catley was also awarded the Player of the Match award after the match. It was Catley’s fifth W-League title of her career, with four of them came when playing for the Melbourne City. Melbourne City has been splendid throughout the season with 11 wins in 12 regular season matches, scoring 33 goals and conceding just five goals in the regular season.
Starting the match, Sydney FC looked dominating on both the sides, with a brilliant display of enthusiasm and skills but the home team who drew the first blood when Catley and Emily van Egmond formed a clever combination as Catley made a drive a shot towards the goal from the far corner and the Sydney FC’s Goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe failed to save the ball despite putting an effort as the ball furled into the nets.
Alanna Kenedy also gave hopes of the second goal in the 32nd minute of the game but that chance was missed as the Syndey FC’s defense were at their best on the field.
After the loss, Sydney FC skipper Teresa Polias gave a heart-wrenching speech as she said:
“Sydney FC’s incredible ever-present skipper Teresa Polias with a heart-tugging speech. This group of girls – I will lose beside you a thousand times if that’s what it takes.” Before reverting to the mandatory football catch cry of “We go again next season”.
The match was played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic all over the world. So far, Australia has 874 confirmed cases of Coronavirus and 7 reported death due to the virus.
