Melbourne City attacker Daniel Arzani believes both he and the team are beginning to hit their stride at the perfect time following Tuesday night’s 2-1 win over Central Coast Mariners at AAMI Park.
City made it back-to-back wins after Saturday’s emphatic 3-0 defeat of Western Sydney Wanderers, continuing to build momentum in their race to play finals football.
Arzani was at the heart of much of City’s attacking play against the Mariners, delivering one of his most impactful performances since returning from injury and re-joining the Club on loan mid-season.
“I mean for me personally, I think it’s one of my best performances since I’ve come back,” Arzani told 10Football post-match.
“It finally all clicked into place not just for me, but for us as a team as well.
“And, look, it’s been a tough few weeks, I obviously came off the back of not playing much and also being injured, but, you know, I was happy to be out there and feel like myself again tonight.”
City’s attacking cohesion was on full display throughout the contest, with Arzani heavily involved in the build-up to Andrew Nabbout’s decisive second goal, showing composure to create the opportunity after being slipped in by Kavian Rahmani.
For Arzani, that growing understanding with his teammates is no coincidence.
“It’s nice knowing a lot of the people that were here, but having that chemistry on the field, starting to understand where Andreas [Kuen] is going to move without looking at him, starting to know Maxxy’s [Caputo] movements in the box,” he said.
“Linking up with Nathaniel [Atkinson] and Aziz [Behich], that’s something different, that’s something that just takes time on the pitch, on the training pitch and on the game.
“So I’m happy that it’s finally clicking, and at an important time too.”
City opened the scoring through Andreas Kuen in the first half before Nabbout’s strike doubled the advantage after the break, with a late Mariners goal unable to deny Aurelio Vidmar’s side a valuable three points.
The result continues a strong run of form at home and has City firmly in the hunt for a Finals berth, with confidence building across the squad.
“It’s starting to gel and hopefully we can have a strong run going into the finals,” Arzani said.
Having worked his way back to full fitness following a knee injury, Arzani also highlighted the support he has received from Head Coach Aurelio Vidmar during a challenging period.
“Look, I can’t speak for Viddy’s relationship with Andy, but I can speak with mine,” he said.
“And I’ve had a lot of low points since coming back, and I’ve had games where I haven’t been good, but he’s been nothing but supportive, and he’s helped me out so much.
“He’s so positive all the time, and he really gives you that confidence and that belief in yourself to go out there and just keep trying, keep plugging away.”
City will now turn their attention to Sunday afternoon’s clash with Wellington Phoenix at AAMI Park, where they will be aiming to make it three wins in a row and further strengthen their Finals credentials.
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