The home side dominated the first 45 minutes, giving City minimal opportunities, before everything changed in the second half.

City's Rebekah Stott said the two halves were like night and day. Canberra's head coach Vicki Linton agreed.

So let's take a look at their season outlook.

One of the side's strengths in attack came through counter-attacking plays utilising the experience of Michelle Heyman, Margot Robinne and Ashleigh Sykes, or overlapping fullbacks in Lauren Keir and Emma Ilijoski.

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Utilising its speed out wide was successful time and time again in the first half. In the second half, however, with legs tiring it was not as simple, but match fitness will come as the ALW continues.

Chloe Middleton, Laura Hughes and Chelsee Washington dictated these plays and will be hard to beat if they can control the midfield, and maintain it for the full 90.

The side's defence was strong across the board, with Linton opting for a strong pairing in Grace Maher and Allyson Haran, in addition to goalkeeper Keeley Richards cleaning up any mistakes and proving why she was promoted to the No.1 position.

A key area United will need to address in round two is the final third. It needs to be shooting more, and more clinical in front of goal.

United fired off a total of eight shots to City's 19. Four of those were on target, compared to the visitors' 10.

Similarly, Melbourne dominated possession (57 per cent). In the second half City controlled the game's tempo and United struggled to take back control. If the side can not reset and identify this in real time, it will be a hard season.

The combination plays and the chemistry between players is evident in the side Linton has built, so if it can find a way to maintain the pressure for a full 90 minutes, finals will be calling.

Allira Toby will be a welcomed addition to the side's line-up in coming weeks, after she was left off the team sheet against City. There were rumours it was an injury but Linton remained tight-lipped on the decision and said she was not ready yet.

With Karly Roestbakken set to build up to more regular game time in coming weeks, Maher will likely be pushed further up the pitch to ply her trade in the midfield. The 22-year-old looked comfortable in either role but was underutilised for the first 60 minutes in the attacking third on Friday.

"There's a lot of positives to take out of the game ... and definitely good things that we can build on," Linton said.

"We came in a little bit underdone, so I said to the players I can't fault their effort and what they put in. So I'm really pleased."

The side takes on Adelaide United on Sunday and, based on its first-half performance in round one, should be able to secure three points.

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