American striker Shea Connors scored the only goal as Sydney FC beat Melbourne City 1-0 to win Saturday’s Women’s A-League grand final and successfully defend their title.
Playing in their seventh consecutive final, Sydney lifted the trophy for the fifth time – the first team to achieve the feat – following Connors’ 69th-minute goal at Melbourne’s AAMI Park.
“It’s so special, it’s been a really tough year,” said Connors, who has been battling injury this season. “I’m very proud that we got here (to the final).
“The way we defended was probably better than the goal itself,” he added.
Neither side managed to open the scoring in a scrappy first half, with few genuine chances in front of a disappointing crowd of just 7,671.
City were all in the second half, with American defender Taylor Otto going close to the edge of the box in the 62nd minute as they piled on the pressure.
But against the run of play, Sydney scored seven minutes later after a masterful substitution by veteran coach Ante Juric, which brought down striker Princess Ibini.
He replaced her with Connors, who received a pass from 16-year-old Indiana Dos Santos and slotted it past goalkeeper Melissa Barbieri just minutes after coming on.
City pushed hard for an equalizer, with two clear chances for the game to come to life, but Sydney held firm and became the most successful women’s team in A-League history.
Australia’s then W-League was formed in 2008 with eight clubs, replacing the Women’s National Football League (WNSL) as Australia’s premier women’s football competition.
It expanded to nine teams in 2015 and has since grown to 12 with the Central Coast Mariners added for the 2023-24 campaign.
This brought it into line with the world’s top leagues, including England’s Women’s Super League and France’s Women’s Division 1.
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