Glory hold hosts Canberra to ALW draw

New Canberra United coach Njegosh Popovich concedes poor finishing meant his side threw away victory in their season-opening A-League Women's clash with Perth.

United battered the visitors and created chance after chance via free-flowing football, but were held to a 2-2 draw at McKellar Park on Saturday.

New United signings Grace Jale and Vesna Milivojevic each scored first-half goals, but Liz Anton and Perth debutant Gabriella Coleman ensured Glory woudn't leave the capital empty-handed.

It continued a concerning trend for Canberra as they look to bounce back from their previous disappointing campaign in which they won just two games, now having drawn four of their last five ALW matches.

But Popovich said the performance encouraged him his side would compete well throughout the season as they continue to build cohesion after a short pre-season.

"The creation of chances is there. If we finish 50 per cent of those opportunities the score ends up blowing out," he told reporters.

"We didn't today so we've just got to take it on the chin and move forward.

"We always knew we would put them under pressure the first 20 minutes or so ... we just didn't know how far our legs would go and that was evident towards the back-end of the game, some of the girls were feeling it."

Canberra capped an early barrage by taking the lead on 13 minutes thanks to Jale's header, but Anton had the contest square on 35 minutes as she rose high to meet a corner.

Milivojevic quickly grabbed the lead back with a tidy finish from an impressive team move, but American poacher Coleman had the final say on the scoreline with an easy finish after a divine cross from substitute Cyera Hintzen.

Along with Jale and Milivojevic, Madison McComasky, Kennedy Faulknor and Wu Changshu made their United debuts, while forward Nicki Flannery was back in the side after missing last season with an ACL injury.

With that many new faces, Popovich insisted the performance showed the squad was on the right track.

"It was a cohesive performance, there was some really good combination play highlighted by the way that we broke their lines down," he said.

Perth coach Alex Epakis said a point was a fair result for his side, but their defending would need to improve.

"For a round-one fixture it's exactly what you'd expect, both teams had momentum at certain points but there weren't long phases of control for either team," he told AAP.

"We gave away some cheap chances, but we also did well in moments.

"So overall a draw is a fair result, but the most important thing for us is observing there's a lot of upside."

Canberra's Flannery probably had the best chance to steal the points when she hit the post from close range after Laura Hughes drew a save from Glory keeper Sarah Langman just minutes from time.