Cooney-Cross excels in Victory 5-0 ALW win

Melbourne Victory coach Jeff Hopkins has lavished praise on Kyra Cooney-Cross after she drove Melbourne Victory to a commanding 5-0 win over Western Sydney Wanderers.

Starting on the wing, the 19-year-old's performance was her best of the ALW season, providing two assists, finding the net herself, and getting heavily involved in her side's attacking play throughout the 90 minutes at AAMI Park on Saturday.

After setting up Catherine Zimmerman and Mindy Barbieri's first-half goals, the teenager grabbed her deserved goal in the 58th minute when she seized on an under-hit headed clearance, rounded goalkeeper Sarah Langham and fired home.

The Wanderers defence giving way, Zimmerman and Courtney Nevin added back-to-back strikes in the following five minutes to complete the dominating display.

"(Kyra is) a super talented player," Hopkins said. "She can play in a number of positions and she can play as well in one position as the next.

"We're just looking at a position where she can help us win the game the most. At the moment, she's doing fantastically well out wide.

"I can't say enough in praising her and her performance today and the fact that she's happy to play in a position that suits the team and is best for the team.

"It shows that she's going to be a hell of a player."

Saturday's win puts Victory back into third place on the table and, still possessing a game in hand on their nearby rivals, the defending ALW champions have now won four straight games with clean sheets, the latter a club record.

"I thought for the first 70 minutes we were excellent," Hopkins said. "We came out and started the game really well against a team that was pretty motivated to come here and beat us."

Stuck on just three goals in 10 games,