The Melbourne City juggernaut showed no signs of slowing down, as they came home strong to finish 4-0 victors over Perth Glory, despite losing five players midweek to a Matildas training camp.
Amongst those in attendance was 30-year old midfielder Aivi Luik, who despite being one of the more unheralded names upon her arrival down south, has established herself as a mature and undroppable presence in midfield for Joe Montemurro’s ladder-leaders.
Fellow first team players Laura Alleway, Steph Catley, Larissa Crummer and Lisa De Vanna also made up Alen Stajcic’s squad, who travelled to Canberra midweek.
The City head coach spoke up about keeping momentum through the squad despite the international interruptions which seem to be plaguing a star-studded City more so than their opponents.
“It’s been a management all year,” Montemurro told FFV Radio.
“We’ve been used to [losing players], we lose them for a week every month. It’s just managing it and getting the information across for the game that we need.”
Despite the interruptions, the result was as expected on Sunday afternoon, as the hosts powered home in the second half to bury four goals past their hapless opponents, who had fought valiantly up until that point, testing the resolve of the unbeaten side.
“Perth are a good side, they’re one of the sides that have a good idea going forward when they win the ball in transition,” Montemurro said.
“We had to be careful, there were a few passages in the first half especially where we had to clean up and fix up. But we got control of the game and the we were able to open them up.
“We started to get into our groove, so we were happy with that.”
Having already broken the W-League record winning streak with their ninth on the weekend, they get the chance to make it an even 10 games next week when they travel to the Gold Coast to take on Brisbane Roar, who are yet to fully hit their stride this season.
However, with the ladder the way it is this season, the seventh placed Roar are still well in with a shout of finals football, something Montemurro and City should be wary of going into next Sunday’s clash.
“Records are nice, thank you very much for letting me know,” Montemurro quipped.
“[Brisbane] are a very good side. The game against us with 10 men probably didn’t tell the real story.
“The reality is that Brisbane need to gain a bit of momentum and get a little bit of stability and they’ll be up there. I tipped them to make the four.”