Michelle Heyman notched her 100th Liberty A-League goal to cement her legendary status as Canberra United defeated Adelaide United 3-1 at Leichhardt Oval in Unite Round. Heyman struck five minutes into the second-half for her record-breaking achievement, and added another moments later for good measure as Canberra gained a much-needed win.
United Head Coach Njegosh Popovich elected to start with the same team that earned a thrilling 3-3 draw with Newcastle Jets in Northern NSW last weekend, making one change to the substitutes’ bench as Tegan Bertolissio was recalled into the squad in place of Alex McKenzie.
Canberra fashioned the game’s first opening after only four minutes, Nickoletta Flannery’s pass ricocheting kindly into the path of Heyman who fired her shot straight at Adelaide custodian Annalee Grove who saved with her feet.
Adelaide fired a shot across the bows in reply when, a quarter of an hour in Alana Jancevski, teed up by Ella Tonkin, saw her curling shot palmed away by Chloe Lincoln, before Lincoln stood strong to make a routine save from a drive by Mariah Lee who caught her shot well but sent it straight at the Young Matildas international.
Canberra was strangely lethargic and struggling to string together anything meaningful in an attacking sense and, the early Heyman opportunity aside, did not test Grove in the opening forty-five minutes. Fortunately, the Lady Reds were equally shot-shy, and the half ended 0-0.
It took less than thirty seconds of the second-half for Adelaide to break the deadlock as the match exploded into action. Midfielder Hannah Blake set Lee in behind the Canberra rearguard, and the forward rolled a delightful ball across the six-yard box, where Isobel Hodgson had stolen a march on the defence to tap into an unguarded goal.
It didn’t take long for Canberra to respond and when they did it was with an history-making goal. A ball forward was misjudged by an Adelaide defender allowing Heyman to touch it away from her marker, advance on goal and hammer a finish past Grove. It was the moment everyone has been waiting for, Heyman’s 100th Liberty A-League goal.
Suddenly, the momentum swung and moments later Canberra were ahead. Vesna Milivojevic sent over a magnificent cross which Heyman met with a trademark bullet header, arcing her finish beyond the flailing Grove and into the top corner.
Not to be outdone Milivojevic wanted a piece of it herself, and she got it just a dozen minutes later. Collecting a pass some twenty-five metres from goal the attacking midfielder advanced on the target and unleashed a bullet of a hit that flashed past Grove for her ninth strike of the campaign.
STATISTICS
Canberra United (0) 3 (Heyman 50’, 51’, Milivojevic 64’) Adelaide United (0) 1 (I. Hodgson 46’)
TEAM: 1. Chloe LINCOLN, 3. Sarah CLARK, 4. Holly MURRAY (7. Maria ROJAS 70’), 8. Sasha GROVE, 10. Mary STANIC-FLOODY (16. Madelyn WHITTALL 70’), 11. Deven JACKSON, 13. Sofia CHRISTOPHERSON (28. Tegan BERTOLISSIO 46’), 17. Vesna MILIVOJEVIC, 19. Nickoletta FLANNERY (9. Ruby NATHAN 82’), 22. Cannon CLOUGH, 23. Michelle HEYMAN
SUBSTITUTES NOT USED: 18. Coco MAJSTOROVIC
YELLOW CARDS: 13. Sofia CHRISTOPHERSON (Canberra United), 17. Zoe TOLLAND (Adelaide United)
RED CARDS: None
