Canberra United got off to a perfect start, leaving Perth Glory to chase them for the entire match.
INTERNATIONALS LEAD CANBERRA
The team brought in a slew of new players for this season to try and get Canberra back on top of the W-League.
They took full advantage of their international roster spots getting the likes of Brazilian star Camila along with Americans Katie Stengel and Simone Charley.
The trio did not disappoint in their debut for the club.
The first goal for Canberra featured Stengel just outside the 18 yard box in the middle of the pitch dishing the ball out wide to Camila. Then Camila crossed in a beautiful ball to Charley who knocked it into the net for a goal.
Simone Charley begins her Westfield #WLeague career with a bang! 🔥
— Westfield W-League (@WLeague) November 17, 2019
🎥: @FoxFootball #CBRvPER pic.twitter.com/YNmFJ3wzVE
It looked like they had been playing together for years with the way they were able to work together not just for that goal, but for the entirety of the match.Â
The three of them seem to have their roles identified and know where each other is on the pitch at all times.Â
Look for them to continue to lead Canberra on the offense and have plenty more well synced plays.
CANBERRA SCORING WOES NO MORE
All of last season Canberra scored 13 goals and got shutout five games.Â
Then today it took them 11 minutes to net their first two goals of the season. At this rate they could almost double their goal total from a season ago.
Along with their goals Canberra had 15 total shots with six of them on frame. They looked dangerous often in the game.
Quite honestly Canberra led in just about every offensive category for the match.
Only Charley scored for Canberra, but there were plenty of other players on the cusp of extending the team’s lead.
11' | GOAAAL! Get in there! Charley curls in an absolute beauty from the edge of the area to give us a 2-0 lead!
— Canberra United (@CanberraUnited) November 17, 2019
2-0 #GoGreen #WLeague #CBRvPER
Camila was dangerous taking shots all over the pitch and Stengel had moments of offensive spark, but could not quite connect for a goal of her own.
Overall the game was all Canberra and their new offensive options showed they can be just the thing Canberra needs to finish higher up on the league ladder this season.
NO KERR, BIG PROBLEM
Everyone is talking about their belief that the W-League can survive without super star Sam Kerr. That may be true for the league, but that does not look like the case for her former club, Perth Glory.Â
Of course Kerr is not the only player who did not return from last season, but she is the most notable. The W-League Golden Boot winner had 13 goals a season ago and just overall offensive power for Perth that is not going to be replaced by one player.
Unfortunately, Perth’s second leading goalscorer from last season, Rachel Hill, has not returned for this year’s campaign either.
The team’s 28 goals from last season which was tied for most in the league does not look like it will be repeated.Â
Perth was left off of the scoresheet from today’s game which was not shocking from just one shot on goal.Â
The team hardly had any rhythm and spent most of the game chasing their opponent. Perth looked far from the team who went to the Grand Final last year.
In the second half they did have moments that looked like they could dig themselves out of the goal deficit, but nothing ever came to fruition.
They looked out of sync and like a team still trying to figure out their identity. If they want people to stop talking about Kerr leaving their squad then they need to give people a much better performance than today’s showing.
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