But Victory clearly had no answer for City’s pressure in their front third, and struggled badly to fill the void at the back left by injured skipper, star American import Kayla Morrison, who will miss the rest of the season after rupturing her ACL earlier this month.
City went 1-0 up inside five minutes, exploiting the Victory defence as McNamara found Wilkinson with precision accuracy and the woman of the moment slotted it away inside the near post.
The under-siege Victory continually lost possession deep in their defensive third and were unable to control the middle of the pitch.
An attempted clearance from Victory keeper Casey Dumont led to a Wilkinson double in the 13th minute after the ball ricocheted off McNamara from a chase-down block.
Wilkinson’s hat-trick was secured after 26 minutes after her pressure caused a serious miscommunication between Tiffany Eliadis and Dumont. Wilkinson capitalised on the easiest of finishes into an open net.
The cherry on the top for City came in the 56th minute when Wilkinson once again finished off some of McNamara’s brilliant work. After a commanding run, the enormously impressive McNamara stepped inside on to her right foot and simply placed it in the path of Wilkinson, who did the rest.
But Wilkinson’s dream day didn’t end there – remarkably netting a fifth against City’s arch-rivals in the 75th minute. Kate Gill is the only other player in the competition’s history to score five goals in the same game, back in 2014.
Victory found a consolation goal in the 84th minute when 20-year-old substitute Maja Markovski showed fantastic composure to slot one past experienced City goalkeeper Melissa Barbieri.
After the game, talking to Ten’s Michael Zappone, Wilkinson modestly suggested each of her goals were the end result of her side’s ‘pressing strategy’.
They were “Melbourne City’s goals”, she said.
While this was a clash to savour for Wilkinson and City, Victory – which defeated City 6-0 in the first derby of last season – will look to quickly bounce back when they next take on the Brisbane Roar on January 2. City next faces the Newcastle Jets later the same day.
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Fantastic five for Wilkinson
Source: Philippines Alive
