Later this week Emily van Egmond will be back in green and gold in a Women's World Cup rematch in Canada, but on Sunday soccer fans in the capital got to see her in action at McKellar Park.

United coach Njegosh Popovich was very aware of the quality van Egmond brought to Newcastle's side, and the veteran lived up to the hype on game day, scoring a goal and consistently causing havoc for Canberra defenders in the Jets' 4-3 victory.

"It's always nice to get on the scoresheet and have a cheeky assist as well," said van Egmond, a former United player between 2009-2011.

"I love coming back to Canberra. They always get a good crowd and it's nice to see everyone continuing to support the women's game."

A concern for Canberra will be the health of skipper Michelle Heyman, who was forced off after copping a shoulder charge from Newcastle's Natasha Prior in the second half.

"Her eye looked pretty swollen," Popovich said.

"I imagine she'll be right to play in our next match, but it's probably a bit of a black eye."

United had a less-than-ideal lead-up to the game against Newcastle, with back-to-back matches postponed at late notice following an international break.

Canberra also lost Chilean international Maria Rojas and Hayley Taylor-Young to injuries this week, the latter out for the season.

After three weeks without any A-League match action, United would be forgiven for starting slowly.

But Canberra captain Heyman had no cobwebs, beating the last line of defence after a through ball to score her 97th A-League goal.

Fresh off an unbelievable Women's World Cup campaign, van Egmond showed her class with a dime of a set-piece cross with one of her first touches, but Newcastle couldn't get the header on target.

Just a few minutes later, though, a leaky Canberra defence gave brand new Jets signing Sarina Bolden space to easily score.

Van Egmond put the visitors in front in the 13th minute with a quickly-taken free kick just inside the half by Newcastle catching United goalkeeper Chloe Lincoln off her line.

Canberra wrestled back momentum in the match, however, the crossbar and Newcastle goalkeeper Isobel Nuno kept the Jets ahead 2-1 at the half-time break.

In humid conditions, both sides upped their physicality in the second half, with yellow cards dished out to Claudia Cicco and Canberra's Tegan Bertolissio in an end-to-end affair.

Canberra had a brief lead in the 58th minute when Milivojevic scored with a cracking free-kick strike just outside the area, but three minutes later, Women's World Cup goalscorer for the Philippines, Bolden, had a brace for her new club with a neat chip.

Prior saw yellow for her rough challenge on Heyman, which also saw the skipper subbed off for young New Zealand international Ruby Nathan.

Newcastle's Lauren Allan gave the visitors a two-goal buffer with a curling 81st-minute strike, before a Milivojevic thunderbolt threatened a late comeback.

The Jets held on through seven minutes of injury time to seal the win and maintain their spot on the middle of the A-League Women ladder. Canberra now sits dead last.

"When you score three goals you're expected to win a match," Popovich said following the defeat.

"The positive side is the girls showed true character and didn't give up.

"In the game there were some great moments, but it wasn't to be and there's lessons learned. We're still growing as a team."

The upcoming international break will mean Canberra fans have to wait two weeks before their next match, also at McKellar Park on December 10 against Brisbane.

NEWCASTLE JETS 4 (Sarina Bolden 2, Emily Van Egmond, Lauren Allan) bt CANBERRA UNITED 3 (Vesna Milivojevic 2, Michelle Heyman) at McKellar Park on Sunday. Crowd: 1853.