Melbourne City was forced to settle for a share of the points on Saturday afternoon, drawing 2-2 against Heidelberg United at ctrl:cyber Pitch.
Tobias Servin and Roland Ballah featured on the scoresheet for a second week in a row, as they bagged a goal each in a hard-fought draw against a tough Heidelberg side.
Team News
Head Coach Stuart McDonald kept an unchanged starting lineup following our victory against Altona Magic last week.
Starting XI: 1. Lachlan CHARLES (GK), 3. Ryan KALMS (C), 5. Mathew BAKER, 6. Angus MACKINTOSH, 7. Aaron CARTWRIGHT, 8. Christian POLYZOUDIS, 9. Tobias SERVIN, 11. Akeem GERALD, 12. Isiah BOSTON, 14. Roland BALLAH, 26. Luka DEMUTH
Substitutes: 25. Julian RECCHIA, 28. Dimitri VLANES, 31. Thomas NASSO, 40. Nicholas VARDAKAS, 66. Harley TRUONG, 67. Sam ROBSON (GK)
What Happened?
We started the match on the back foot, as Heidelberg enjoyed the majority of possession during the opening stages. Goalkeeper Lachlan Charles was tested early, and made a sharp save to his right to keep out a header from a corner as our defence was kept busy.
Unfortunately, the sustained pressure eventually told in the 18th minute, as a defensive lapse at the back gifted the visitors the opening goal.
Our response was immediate, with Ballah levelling the scores just two minutes later. Capitalising on a loose pass at the back, he reacted quickly before rifling a powerful finish from inside the box to bring us back into the contest.
It continued a brilliant run of form for the 18-year-old winger, who recently signed his first professional contract, marking his fifth goal in three games.
Heidelberg remained comfortable in possession, but our disciplined defensive shape restricted them from creating many dangerous openings. Charles dealt confidently with the visitors’ attempts, while we created a handful of opportunities in an otherwise uneventful end to the half as both teams went into the break a goal apiece.
Following the interval, the visitors continued to control possession, with City finding it difficult to create meaningful chances going forward. Heidelberg’s dominance was rewarded again in the 55th minute, as they found a second goal to restore their advantage.
Despite the setback, we continued to defend with determination, with Charles called upon again several times to comfortably deal with their continued attacking pressure.
We responded in the 75th minute with a well-worked move to draw level. A free kick from near halfway found Akeem Gerald on the left, who delivered the ball into Christian Polyzoudis. His clever flick fell perfectly into the path of Servin, who stuck a powerful finish into the bottom corner from the edge of the area.
From then on, momentum looked to gradually swing in our favour. Several attacking moves saw us have more chances in the area in the closing stages of the game.
As regular time came to a close, we thought we’d snatched the three points. Working from the back, the ball found its way to Angus Mackintosh, who drove it down the left to cut it back inside the box. Polyzoudis met it first time, forcing a save from the goalkeeper, but the rebound fell kindly to Dimitri Vlanes, who tapped home. The celebrations were short-lived, however, as the offside flag was raised against Vlanes, denying City a dramatic late winner.
Our push for a winner continued in stoppage time, with Vlanes going close as his dangerous header drifted just wide of the post. At the other end, Lachlan Charles produced a crucial one-on-one save to deny the visitors in the dying moments, before the final whistle confirmed a hard-fought 2-2 draw with both sides sharing the points.
What’s Next?
We’ll look to extend our unbeaten run this Saturday at 6pm, as we head west to face Caroline George Springs at City Vista Reserve. We then return to Casey Fields to face Avondale on July 25.
