Melbourne City suffered late heartbreak for the second fixture in a row, going down 2-1 in Saturday night’s away Melbourne Derby.
Tolgay Arslan had the opener just minutes into the contest before Victory were able to equalise from the spot in the 34th minute.
Both sides would have their chances in the final stages, but ultimately it was the home team on the night who would take theirs and walk away with the three points.
Team News
Aurelio Vidmar remained at home recovering from illness, with Raffaele Napoli naming a starting line-up that featured three changes from our midweek fixture.
Leo Natel, Jimmy Jeggo and Samuel Souprayen all returned to the line-up, while Nuno Reis (knock) and Marco Tilio (quad) were absent from the matchday squad due to minor injuries sustained late on Tuesday night.
Starting XI: 1. Jamie YOUNG (GK), 25. Callum TALBOT, 22. Curtis GOOD, 26. Samuel SOUPRAYEN, 14. Vicente FERNANDEZ, 8. Jimmy JEGGO, 6. Steven UGARKOVIC, 10. Tolgay ARSLAN (C), 44. Marin JAKOLIS, 11. Leo NATEL, 37. Max CAPUTO
Substitutes: 33. Patrick BEACH (GK), 7. Mathew LECKIE, 9. Jamie MACLAREN, 17. Terry ANTONIS, 18. Jordon HALL, 21. Alessandro LOPANE, 38. Harry POLITIDIS.
What happened?
The Melbourne City fans packing the southeast corner of AAMI Park couldn’t have asked for a much better start to the Derby than what unfolded in the 45th edition.
A mistake at the back left the door ajar for Tolgay Arslan – who took the armband on the night – our number 10 swooping in to dribble his way into the box and finish cooly past Paul Izzo in the 4th minute.
In typical Derby fashion, the momentum swung back and forth throughout the remainder of the first half.
Jimmy Jeggo, aided by Arslan and Steven Ugarkovic, did well to control proceedings when possible in the middle of the park, but it wouldn’t translate to many chances further up the pitch.
Jamie Young had some solid moments in between the sticks, notably in the 16th minute, pulling out a strong right hand to deny Ben Folami an equaliser.
City’s defensive resistance would eventually let up just after the half-hour mark though, Bruno Fornaroli netting the equaliser from the spot.
Victory came out of the sheds looking the better of the two teams, but City was ultimately able to see off that early surge and build into the half after around 10 minutes.
The introduction of Mathew Leckie provided a spark, but the final pass into the box was still lacking as we struggled to find a clear opening on goal.
Tempers began to flare as we ticked into the final 10 minutes, a coming-together between Vicente Fernández and Zinedine Machach requiring a lengthy look from the VAR – ultimately issuing both with cautions.
Skipper Jamie Maclaren – who’d entered the pitch little over 10 minutes earlier – was picked out in the box in the 84th minute, but his glancing header from a tough angle ran across the face, agonisingly just wide of the target.
In his final minutes of his season before departing for Olyroos duty, Callum Talbot had a massive clearance late to ensure scores stayed level, putting a dangerous ball out for a corner in the 85th minute.
Unfortunately though that corner was our undoing, Victory defender Damian Da Silva rising highest to head home the eventual winner.
Arslan did have a chance a couple of minutes later to make it 2-2, but our midfield maestro put his effort just over the bar after some great work from Leckie and Marin Jakolis in the buildup.
What’s next?
We’ll return to AAMI Park next Sunday, this time around for a home fixture as we get set to host Perth Glory in our second-last home game of the season.
