Melbourne Victory couldn’t have asked for a better response from last week’s defeat to Sydney FC after thumping Adelaide United 4-0 at Lakeside Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Victory were coming off a 2-0 loss away to Sydney FC but they lifted when it counted to earn a second win of the campaign,with their last coming back in Round 1 against Canberra United.
Victory celebrated their 10th anniversary in the Westfield W-League by putting in a clinical display that is no doubt their finest performance of the season.
Natasha Dowie got a record-breaking double while Jeon Ga-eul and Lia Privitelli both scored their opening goals of the season.
Coming into this match club captain Dowie required one goal to become the all-time leading goalscorer in Victory’s W-League history, previously she was level on 14 with Caitlin Friend.
Her brace means she now takes the mantle outright, finding the net 16 times over 25 appearances.
Her first of the afternoon came after 11 minutes from a corner delivery by Angela Beard.
Numerous bodies were in the box attacking the ball, but it was Dowie who got the final touch as Adelaide desperately tried to clear off the line.
Her second goal in the 50th minute was provided by Beard from a corner once more and Dowie met it with a strong header.
Victory did the damage inside the first 45, scoring three of their four goals before the break.
Along with Dowie’s opener, Jeon and Privitelli found the back of the net quickly to hand Victory a commanding lead.
With just over half an hour gone, Dowie provided the cut-back assist for Jeon who made no mistake to finesse into the bottom right corner.
Shortly afterwards Christina Gibbons created the chance for the next goal by finding Privitelli out wide, who cut inside before drilling a low shot past Sarah Willacy.
Victory were able to see out the rest of the game and record their inaugural clean sheet of the season.
It was a perfect day in many aspects including an afternoon of firsts and made it a memorable occasion for the fans, especially to see their star striker in top form and put her name into the history books.
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