Melbourne City will head into 20 days without a game full of confidence following a huge win away to Perth Glory on Sunday night.
A first-half Steven Ugarkovic double inspired a big 5-0 win, with Andreas Kuen, Yonatan Cohen and Medin Memeti all scoring their first City goals in the second 45.
Team News
It was clear all week that Head Coach Aurelio Vidmar would be forced into two changes to his XI from last time out, the City Head Coach sticking with an otherwise unchanged line-up.
17-year-old Medin Memeti slotted in up top for his first senior start, while Yonatan Cohen joined him in the front three after moving to the bench last week due to illness.
Starting XI: 33. Patrick BEACH (GK), 22. Callum TALBOT, 27. Kai TREWIN, 26. Samuel SOUPRAYEN, 13. Nathaniel ATKINSON, 19. Zane SCHREIBER, 6. Steven UGARKOVIC, 30. Andreas KUEN, 10. Yonatan COHEN, 38. Harry POLITIDIS, 35. Medin MEMETI.
Substitutes: 1. Jamie YOUNG (GK), 7. Mathew LECKIE, 8. Jimmy JEGGO, 22. Germán FERREYRA, 42. Ben DUNBAR, 46. Ben MAZZEO, 47. Kavian RAHMANI.
What happened?
While the deadlock remained for 40 minutes, there were positive signs for City from the early stages.
Fittingly, it was Steven Ugarkovic getting our first look at goal in the 6th minute – forcing a good diving save out of Oli Sail with his effort from outside the box.
Yonatan Cohen began to get involved as we pressed for the opener, playing a delightful ball into the box with Ugarkovic again forcing a save out of Sail, this time from a glancing header.
Medin Memeti was the next to go close, getting two good looks at goal in the space of 15 minutes. Cohen first played him in from the right before Andreas Kuen slipped a ball through later in the half, both ending with Glory defenders making last-ditch blocks to keep the score level.
All our good work was finally rewarded in the 39th minute.
Perth looked to clear a Callum Talbot cross, but it would only go straight into the path of a waiting Ugarkovic, the City midfielder unleashing a scorching strike from range to make it 1-0.
As we ticked closer to the break, the City number 6 would get his name on the scoresheet once again five minutes later.
Memeti, Cohen and Kuen were all involved with some nice work in the build-up before Ugarkovic pounced on a loose ball in the penalty area to grab his second of the night.
Aurelio Vidmar couldn’t have dreamt of a better start to the second half from his team, the score becoming 3-0 just 20 seconds after the resumption of play.
A horror moment in defence from the Glory opened the door for Kuen, who needed little invitation to slam home his first City goal – which took a small deflection on the way into the back of the net.
Zane Schreiber was a rock in midfield throughout the 90 minutes, while the back four – led by Samuel Souprayen and Kai Trewin – were faultless.
Memeti and Cohen continued to press for a fourth, both going close to finding the back of the net as we edged towards the hour mark.
Vidmar turned to his bench as the game wore on, introducing Mathew Leckie, Ben Dunbar, Germán Ferreyra, and Kavian Rahmani for his senior debut.
The fourth would finally come in the 83rd minute, Cohen scoring a well-deserved goal after being one of our best throughout the early stages of the season.
Some slick build-up play ended with Dunbar finding the City winger, who cut inside and unleashed a beautiful left-foot finish into the far bottom corner.
It was all about the youth for the night’s final goal though, with three City Academy products combining for a moment to remember.
Rahmani (17 years old) played Dunbar (18) into space in midfield, before receiving the ball back and playing a perfect cross to meet a well-timed Memeti (17) run to the back-post.
On his first senior start, the young striker made no mistake to put the cherry on top of a fantastic night in Perth.
What’s next?
A long layoff is ahead for City, with an international break followed by our first bye of the season.
We return to the pitch on Saturday 30 November to host Juan Mata and the Wanderers. Click here to get your tickets!
While our Men’s squad won’t be taking to the pitch next weekend, an action-packed City Fan Festival, presented by Federation University, is coming your way at the City Football Academy Melbourne – ctrl:cyber Campus at Casey Fields on Saturday 16 November. Find out more and don’t miss it!
