Roy Krishna continues his goal-scoring streak, Kosta Barbarouses nets his 50thA-League goal, two PFA executive members carve out new milestones and Hayley Raso makes emotional return.
PFA Executive member Nikolai Topor-Stanley moved into second on the all-time Hyundai A-League appearances ladder on Saturday, featuring in his 279th game against Sydney FC – the club where he started his career.
Behind record games holder Andrew Durante, who has amassed 301 career A-League appearances, Topor-Stanley leap-frogged Danny Vukovic (278) into second spot on the weekend and remains one match appearance ahead of Leigh Broxham (also 278 apps).
Topor-Stanley, now 33, made his A-League debut for Sydney FC in 2006, and said that he was proud of his resilience in achieving the milestone
“I started professional football at 21 which by all means is a very late…to be behind the eight-ball and then to still be standing here at 33 when a lot of my teammates and people that I grew up with, probably far better players than me, they came earlier into the league but also left earlier and I’m still standing.
“It makes me proud of my resilience and to still be producing at a decent level for the Newcastle Jets.”
Topor-Stanley’s fellow PFA Executive member Kim Carroll recently reached 100 W-League matches, while with Perth Glory.
“It’s a good milestone to reach, and with some of the injuries I’ve had, it’s a good achievement. We had a bit of success at Brisbane Roar, but coming here (Perth) has been a bit of a fresh start and something different and I’ve really enjoyed our team environment that we have here with all the girls. Each year we’ve always had a good team atmosphere and I’ve really enjoyed playing here.”
Kosta Barbarouses was stuck on 49 goals during five scoreless matches, before sweeping home an impressive hat-trick to surpass 50 A-League goals in Melbourne Victory’s 5-0 win over Brisbane Roar last Wednesday.
Barbarouses became the eighth player to reach 50 league goals, scoring his maiden professional hat-trick to top off a memorable night.
“It’s a pretty big milestone for myself. Obviously I haven’t always been a striker, most of my career I’ve been a winger, so it’s probably taken a few years [longer than I’d like],” Barbarouses told melbournevictory.com.au.
“But everyone can see I’m very happy in the new position and [this role] comes with more opportunities to score and I think I’m doing pretty well to take them.”
Roy Krishna can’t seem to stop scoring and netted his third brace in as many games, racking up a unique ‘triple double’. It’s the first time in A-League player has scored two or more goals in three consecutive A-League matches.
Krishna has had an outstanding season for the buoyant Phoenix, who are enjoying a renaissance of sorts this campaign after failing to reach the finals in the past three seasons.
The Fijian forward has now netted a brace in every match this January, taking his total to 11 goals for the season – equal at the top of the competition’s goal scoring charts with Sydney FC’s Adam Le Fondre.
Krishna’s goal scoring form also sees him one goal shy of his highest tally with the phoenix – 12 goals during the 2016/17 season.
There were first goals for Matt Millar who opened the scoring for the Central Coast Mariners with a tidy finish in the 1-1 draw with Brisbane Roar, while Melbourne City FC’s new W-League recruit Hailie Mace netted on debut in City’s 4-0 rout of Newcastle Jets.
To cap off an impressive week of milestones, Hayley Raso made her return to the W-League for Brisbane, following her frightening back injury and a lengthy period of rehabilitation. After fracturing three vertebrae playing with NWSL team Portland Thorns in August, Raso’s return is even more of a milestone considering she was unable to walk just four months ago.
