Brisbane Roar Women have handed Melbourne Victory a comprehensive 4-1 defeat at AAMI Park on Saturday.
A superb double from Tameka Butt within the space of two minutes in the first half and a second-half goals from substitutes Lisa De Vanna and Emily Gielnik were enough for Roar to secure all three away points, after a dominant performance.
Caitlin Friend pounced on a mix up between Roar defender Brooke Spence and goalkeeper Casey Dumont to pass into an open net and cut it back to 2-1 for Melbourne after 65 minutes, but it mattered little in the end.
Elise Kellond-Knight was superb for Roar on the left all game and carved a couple of glorious openings for herself while she also assisted both of Butt’s goals.
Naturally, Brisbane seemed at home in the 30 degree heat and had the first chance of the match on five minutes when Kellond-Knight lashed her shot just over the bar from the edge of the area.
Roar were looking far more composed on the ball while Victory struggled to find any rhythm early and it stayed that way for much of the match.
Maika Ruyter-Hooley got high to head over from Victory’s first corner and that was really their only half chance of the first half.
After pressing hard in the opening 20 minutes Roar got their breakthrough in impressive fashion.
Butt latched onto a glorious long ball from Kellond-Knight that pierced the heart of Victory’s defence, turned her defender inside out after a hint of a handball and finished well across the ‘keeper into the bottom right corner.
Just two minutes later and Butt was seeing double when she chested Kellond-Knight’s cross from close range, swiveled, and fired past Melissa Barbieri once more, with an equally adept finish.
With that Brisbane had the advantage they deserved and for the remainder of the half Melbourne struggled to get forward much at all. Wingers Friend and Ashley Brown were hardly in the play while striker Jodie Taylor was afforded little support up forward.
Kellond-Knight was at it again just before the break when she glided past two defenders and fired a fierce left-foot shot that was almost too hot for Barbieri to handle. Then, moments after the half she found herself free again but hit the bar with an easier chance.
Brisbane went looking for a third immediately after the restart and when Butt received another perfect ball from Kellond-Knight on the left, her hat-trick looked a certainty, but she dragged an easy put away over.
Friend preyed on Spence’s poor back pass in the 65th minute to tap in to an empty net for Victory and make it interesting but De Vanna’s well taken shot seven minutes later made sure of the points for Roar.
Another substitute, Gielnik, put some more gloss on the score line for Brisbane when she was played through the centre of defence to smash home an unstoppable shot on 81 minutes, as it finished 4-1.
Melbourne Victory: 1 (Friend 65)
Brisbane Roar: 4 (Butt 23, 25, De Vanna 71, Gielnik 81)
