Momo Hayashi stood over the ball in the 87th minute with the score level, her Melbourne City debut nearly complete and Wellington Phoenix three minutes away from finally avoiding defeat against a team they had never beaten.
There are safer ways to introduce yourself.
Hayashi hit the free-kick with enough violence that Victoria Esson got her fingertips to it, though she never really looked capable of stopping it. The ball continued into the top corner, Hayashi disappeared beneath celebrating teammates, and Melbourne City had somehow turned a difficult afternoon into a 2-1 victory.
Wellington Phoenix Women suffered a 2-1 loss to Melbourne City in their A-League Women season opener at Hnry Stadium, despite leading through Makala Woods and controlling significant periods of the match. Melina Ayres equalised from the penalty spot before Hayashi decided subtlety was no longer required.
For Melbourne City, it was a familiar result delivered by a very unfamiliar team.
Momo Hayashi could have picked an easier way to make her debut
Hayashi arrived at City after two seasons with Brisbane Roar, where the Japanese midfielder scored ten goals in 38 appearances. At 31, this was hardly the nervous first outing of somebody encountering the A-League Women for the first time.
Still, changing clubs comes with the usual little rituals. New teammates, new movements to learn, a different shirt and several weeks of everyone discussing how quickly the new Melbourne City FC Women players can possibly “gel”.
Football enjoys pretending human beings are Lego.
City had seven new faces in their starting XI after losing several major players during the off-season, including Holly McNamara, Leticia McKenna, Leah Davidson and Alexia Apostolakis. Hayashi was one of them, alongside Cortnee Vine, Jessika Nash, Taylor Ray, Aimee Medwin, Deven Jackson and Ayres.
For much of the afternoon, the rebuild looked exactly like a rebuild.
Then Hayashi put her foot through the ball.
It was the sort of debut goal that makes all the sensible discussion about adaptation temporarily irrelevant. Mechagodzilla does not need six committee meetings about integration when somebody has already installed the enormous laser cannon.
Hayashi had been industrious throughout. Her win ensured nobody will remember that bit quite as vividly.
Wellington Phoenix were actually the better team for a while
This is where the result becomes particularly annoying for Wellington.
Under Bev Priestman, the Phoenix started aggressively, pressing City high and making their substantially reconstructed starting XI look uncomfortable. Indiah-Paige Riley forced an early save from Malena Mieres, Pia Vlok found pockets between the lines, and Woods came closest to breaking the deadlock when she lifted a shot beyond Mieres in the 31st minute.
It struck the far post.
A minor detail at the time. Less minor approximately an hour later.
Wellington’s pressure eventually produced something tangible six minutes after half-time. Vlok floated a cross to Tameka Yallop; the ball stayed alive inside the penalty area, and Woods swept a bouncing finish past Mieres to make it 1-0.
Woods nearly scored again nine minutes later after rounding the goalkeeper, but the offside flag intervened.
These are the moments people revisit when explaining how a match they appeared to control somehow ended with the opposition celebrating.
Melbourne City only needed the door left slightly open
City did not panic.
This is an irritating characteristic in champions.
Wellington’s intensity began to fade as the second half progressed, with several Football Ferns having recently returned from international duty in Panama. Priestman later described some of them as “hanging on for dear life”, refreshingly graphic managerial language for tired players.
City began finding territory.
Then Wellington provided assistance.
Emma Taylor-Main clipped Taylor Ray inside the area in the 73rd minute, and Ayres stepped forward to take the penalty. Esson guessed correctly and got a hand to it, but the ball still squeezed through.
Ayres had first signed professionally with City as a 16-year-old in 2017. Nearly a decade later, the striker’s first goal of her second spell had dragged them level.
Wellington still had time to win it. Abby Erceg nearly did, climbing at the back post in the 82nd minute and forcing Mieres into an excellent reaction save.
Five minutes later, Lara Wall fouled substitute Kelli McGroarty near the edge of Wellington’s penalty area.
Up walked Hayashi.
Wellington Phoenix vs Melbourne City is becoming a peculiar habit
The uncomfortable part for Wellington is that this keeps happening.
Melbourne City’s victory extended their perfect record against the Phoenix to ten wins from ten meetings since Wellington entered the competition. Five months earlier, City had beaten them 3-1 in the Grand Final to win the 2025/26 Championship.
Different season. Different City team. Same result.
That is what makes this one particularly unpleasant.
Wellington have recruited heavily, adding experienced Wellington Phoenix FC Women players including Yallop, Abby Erceg and Riley to a squad now coached by Priestman. There was enough here to suggest that this version of the Phoenix is stronger.
Priestman certainly thought so.
“Football is cruel sometimes,” she said afterwards, pointing to improved possession and control, and the need to develop a more ruthless streak.
That is one way to look at it.
The other is that Wellington hit the post, led 1-0, had another goal ruled out and forced a major save at 1-1, yet Melbourne City still wandered back across the Tasman carrying all three points.
Again.
Who scored for Melbourne City against Wellington Phoenix?
Ayres scored City’s equaliser from the penalty spot in the 73rd minute before Hayashi won the match with her spectacular free-kick in the 87th.
Woods had given Wellington the lead in the 51st minute.
Full time: Wellington Phoenix Women 1-2 Melbourne City Women.
For Michael Matricciani, there are obvious reasons to be encouraged. City have lost important Melbourne City FC Women players, changed much of their starting XI and could easily have lost their opening match. Instead, they found a way to win it and extended their overall A-League Women unbeaten run to 11 matches.
Managers tend to call that character.
Sometimes it is simply having somebody capable of doing something unreasonable with a football.
Hayashi arrived in Melbourne as part of a rebuild. One competitive appearance later, she has already delivered the kind of moment that tends to outlast tactical diagrams and pre-season discussions about squad cohesion.
Wellington were improved. City were vulnerable. The old pattern looked ready to crack.
Then Hayashi took three steps towards the ball.
New shirt, one free kick
Old Wellington wound opens
City win again
