Perth Glory will sweat on scans on Rylee Baisden’s left knee after the star attacker suffered a potential anterior cruciate ligament tear in their 1-1 A-League Women draw with Melbourne Victory.
The AAMI Park crowd was silenced in the 58th minute when American forward Baisden blocked a Kayla Morrison pass with her right leg but her trailing left leg awkwardly planted and she went down screaming.
Baisden, who has scored five goals this season, was taken off on a stretcher.
Victory skipper Morrison, who returned this season from an ACL tear suffered in a similar area of the AAMI Park pitch in December 2021, was clearly rattled and in tears.
“It doesn’t look good,” Perth coach Alex Epakis told reporters.
“Obviously from the reaction, it’s heartbreaking. You forget about the game for that moment.
“I don’t know 100 per cent yet (what the injury is), but we’ve just got to remain hopeful. But it doesn’t look great.
“You have to expect anything. So we’ll just wait and see.”
Epakis admitted his charges had been in shock after Baisden went down but rallied to equalise.
“We had that quick little drink break just when she was getting treatment and the players looked shocked and they were upset,” Epakis said.
“I just said ‘as best as we can, we’ve just got to stay focused for the next 25 minutes and try and do something for Rylee’.”
Victory struck first in the 26th minute when Alex Chidiac drove forward and worked the ball out to Zois on the left.
The 19-year-old cut outside Perth skipper Natasha Rigby and lifted a lovely shot into the far top corner.
“Fantastic. She’s done everything we’ve asked of her again today,” Victory coach Jeff Hopkins told reporters.
“So really pleased for us as a team that she did it but also for her.
“Because she’s been working really hard over the last couple of months and it’s good to get a little bit of recognition and a bit of reward with a great goal like that.”
New Victory signing Sarah Rowe, the Irish Collingwood AFLW star, debuted off the bench in the 64th minute.
Perth hit back in the 75th when Ella Mastrantonio lifted a ball towards Alana Jancevski, who had replaced Baisden, in the 18-yard box.
Jancevski, a Victorian talent who was in Victory’s set-up when she was younger before breaking through at Perth, took a lovely left-footed touch and scored.
“It means a lot to her, because she was here for a long time,” Epakis said.
“When you’ve got a point to prove – I know that meant a lot.”
Perth remain in eighth, on six points, while Victory sit seven points ahead in fourth.
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