Melbourne Victory have rescued a point at the death against Canberra United in their A-League Women clash on Tuesday night, but the draw could still have a big impact on their finals chances.
The visitors found goals through Alex Chidiac and Tiffany Eliadis to rescue a 2-2 draw, having fallen behind 2-0 when United struck through Chelsee Washington and Michelle Heyman at Viking Park.
The hosts found two first-half goals and looked on track to net just their second win of the season, particularly when 17-year-old keeper Chloe Lincoln denied Victory's Maja Markovski from the penalty spot as they looked to get back into the game.
Washington opened the scoring on 41 minutes, blasting a shot home from close range after otherwise-impressive Victory keeper Casey Dumont bobbled a save, before Heyman found herself with space on the stroke of halftime and chipped the ball home for the 2-0 advantage.
After Canberra's one-two punch, Victory thought they'd found a lifeline when Hayley Taylor-Young hacked down Catherine Zimmerman in the box, but Lincoln guessed correctly from the spot kick, diving to her right and controlling Markovski's shot.
Victory finally pulled one back on 82 minutes as Courtney Nevin's cross was met by Chidiac's looping header.
And Eliadis levelled things in stoppage time with another header from a Nevin cross beating a fumbling Lincoln.
The draw meant little for United's season with the team already guaranteed to miss finals, but it has potentially serious ramifications for Victory.
Instead of going four points clear of fifth-placed Perth Glory, Victory are now just two points ahead with each team having two games left before finals.
Victory now travel to Adelaide before closing their season with another clash with Canberra.
