Melbourne City FC suffered defeat at the hands of Sydney FC, going down 0-2 on Thursday night at AAMI Park.
City started the game well and the deadlock remained at half-time, but Sydney FC were the more clinical of the two teams in the second half and walked away with all three points as a result.
Starting XI
Rado Vidosic made three changes to the starting line-up that faced Brisbane on Sunday.
Tori Tumeth and Teigen Allen came in to the City backline, while Harriet Withers also made her return to the starting XI.
Hollie Palmer missed with a slight hamstring injury and Samatha Johnson sat out through suspension due to accumulation of yellow cards.
Our line up for tonight's clash against Sydney FC is in!
There are 3️⃣ changes to Sunday's XI with Teigen Allen and Tori Tumeth coming in to shore up our defence while Harriet Withers also gets a starting nod.#CmonCity #MCYvSYD #WLeague pic.twitter.com/0l7oUj91QE
— Melbourne City FC (@MelbourneCity) February 4, 2021
What happened?
Despite this being a match-up of 1v7 on the table going in, City settled the better of the two teams and took control of possession early.
A lightning quick counter-attack led by Tyla-Jay Vlajnic and Harriet Withers almost gave City the opener in the seventh minute.
The move ended with Alex Chidiac getting 1-on-1 with Sydney FC keeper Jada Whyman who did well to keep out the shot from close range.
Vlajnic and Withers continued to cause havoc down the wings for much of the first half with Sydney’s defence struggling to contain them.
City looked composed in possession and were happy to be patient and wait for opportunities to present themselves, not being rushed into any poor decisions.
After Chidiac’s early chance, there were no clear cut chances until the 43rd minute when Teagan Micah was called into action and pulled off a strong save to keep Princess Ibini’s shot out and scores level.
The deadlock was broken five minutes into the second half when a long ball over the top of the City defence was finished off by Sydney’s Remy Siemsen.
Things got worse for City moments later when Vlajnic brought down Cortnee Vine and was shown a straight red card by the referee.
Despite being reduced to 10, City still looked to push forward to attack and did have a couple of chances through Chidiac and Withers but neither could trouble the keeper.
Allira Toby doubled the lead for Sydney FC in the 77th minute and despite City’s best efforts to get back into the game, it would ultimately finish 0-2.
What’s next?
City will next be in action in the Westfield W-League next Saturday night when it takes on the Newcastle Jets. The fixture will kick off at 5.05pm and will be the Club’s first match at Frank Holohan Reserve – the home of Dandenong City SC.
