Melbourne Victory have leapt to second on the Ninja A-League ladder with Sienna Saveska bagging the winner in a hard-fought 1-0 win over Newcastle Jets.
Meanwhile Western Sydney have continued their revival with a 2-0 win over struggling Canberra United, making it two wins from three games this season.
At AAMI Park, young Victory playmaker Saveska was the difference on Sunday afternoon, scoring her maiden goal for the club in the 25th minute.
Saveska, who joined from Western Sydney ahead of the 2025-26 season but barely featured due to illness and injury, has enjoyed a stellar start to the campaign.
“She was excellent. She was probably our best player with the ball today – maybe could have gone through her a little bit more,” coach Jeff Hopkins said.
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“The way that she works, people don’t realise how hard she works.
“She puts her foot in and she’s like a little pitbull in there. We really appreciate her and appreciate her right foot today as well.”
The goal came after Newcastle were unable to fully clear a Sophie Harding cross and Anna Sutter headed into the box, where Saveska pounced and coolly rifled home.
Victory skipper Kayla Morrison hit the post in the 63rd minute while substitute Nicki Flannery had a chance to extend the lead in the 84th but hit the post.
Hopkins was happy with Victory’s defensive efforts but lamented their work in possession.
“The quality of the players that we’ve got at this club need to be playing with the ball a lot better than that,” he said.
Jets coach Stephen Hoyle was frustrated not to break the deadlock.
“We limited them to not too many opportunities, and then I want to see the team that we are during the week in training with what we create and put together in the final third,” he said.
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Earlier at McKellar Park, the Wanderers took advantage of poor defending from United in the opening minute.
Allyssa Ng-Saad latched onto a cross and had space to turn on the ball and tee up Milly Bennett, who fired home from close range.
Western Sydney doubled their lead when Bennett turned provider for Elexa Bahr to score in the 19th minute.
Michelle Heyman’s Canberra couldn’t find their way back into the game.
