Melbourne City took a share of the points in an action-packed Christmas Derby at AAMI Park on Saturday night.
Yonatan Cohen broke the deadlock with a beautiful finish in the 16th minute, but Victory would eventually hit back in the second half in a game that saw countless momentum swings.
Team News
Aurelio Vidmar initially stuck with an unchanged XI, but his plans were thrown into chaos at the last minute with Jimmy Jeggo withdrawing due to soreness following the warmup.
Zane Schreiber replaced him in the lineup, with Lawrence Wong added to the bench.
City skipper Aziz Behich was named in defence for his 115th appearance for the Club, equalling Florin Berenguer for equal fourth on our all-time appearance list.
Starting XI: 33. Patrick BEACH (GK), 13. Nathaniel ATKINSON, 27. Kai TREWIN, 26. Samuel SOUPRAYEN, 16. Aziz BEHICH (C), 19. Zane SCHREIBER, 6. Steven UGARKOVIC, 30. Andreas KUEN, 10. Yonatan COHEN, 38. Harry POLITIDIS, 35. Medin MEMETI.
Substitutes: 1. Jamie YOUNG (GK), 2. Callum TALBOT, 20. Arion SULEMANI, 22. Germán FERREYRA, 41. Lawrence WONG, 46. Ben MAZZEO, 47. Kavian RAHMANI.
What happened?
In what would be a sign of things to come, Yonatan Cohen took our first shoot of the game just three minutes into the contest, his effort though going well over the bar.
Patrick Beach was quickly called into action up the other end of the pitch, denying Daniel Arzani just a minute later.
Everything positive was coming down Cohen’s side in the first 10 minutes, the City winger combining well with Nathaniel Atkinson.
City looked the better of the two teams in the early stages, led from the back by Aziz Behich and Samuel Souprayen.
The reward would come for our strong start in the 16th minute and no surprise, it was the boot of Cohen.
The foray forward started with a lovely cross-pitch ball from Steven Ugarkovic to find our number 10 in space, Cohen then beating a defender before curling a lovely left-foot finish into the top corner.
After a surprise last-minute start, Schreiber made a great recovery run in the 25th minute to put in a goal-saving block on a Reno Piscopo attempt.
Two minutes later, Beach denied the equaliser, reacting quickly to get down to his right and deny Zinedine Machach.
Following a first goal at AAMI Park last weekend, Medin Memeti had two great chances to add a second on either side of half time.
Samuel Souprayen first played a lovely ball from defence late in the first 45, before Ugarkovic sent him through on goal early in the second. Unfortunately both times the 17-year-old came up just short after getting through on goal.
Memeti turned provider on the hour mark, sliding a great ball across the box for Harry Politidis – who saw his shot on goal denied only by the boot of Jack Duncan.
Beach made another fantastic save in the 64th minute, but the ensuing corner unfortunately saw the City keeper spill the ball with Roderick Miranda poking the equaliser into the back of the net.
Replays did appear to show a hand dragging Beach’s shoulder down, but despite his protests, the goal stood.
Following the equaliser Victory had all of the momentum, peppering the final third as City’s defence was constantly tested.
Kai Trewin continued to prove himself as one of the best defenders in the league with a great shift, while Beach quickly moved on and made a few more brilliant saves – denying substitute Bruno Fornaroli and Piscopo.
An Aurelio Vidmar substitute almost appeared to be a masterstroke, Callum Talbot firing a lethal strike from well outside the box just moments after entering the pitch, only to see Duncan just get a fingertip to it.
Victory looked to have a chance to grab the winner in the final moments, but Behich stood up and made a last-ditch clearance to ensure we took a point.
What’s next?
Our City boys will now take a well-deserved few days off before returning to the pitch one last time for 2024, facing Central Coast Mariners away from home on New Year’s Eve.
Our Big City Summer will kick off a few days later when we host three matches at AAMI Park in the space of just eight days.
