Melbourne City secured A-League Men’s Finals football for the 10th consecutive year with a 1-0 win over Western United on Sunday afternoon.
Captain Jamie Maclaren stood up in the big moment, putting home what turned out to be the only goal of the afternoon in the 19th minute.
Team News
Aurelio Vidmar went with an ‘if it’s not broke, don’t fix it approach,’ sticking with the same starting line-up for the third consecutive game after back-to-back wins.
The only changes came amongst the substitutes, both Callum Talbot and Patrick Beach returning to the bench following the conclusion of their Olyroos duties.
Starting XI: 1. Jamie YOUNG (GK), 6. Steven UGARKOVIC, 4. Nuno REIS, 26. Samuel SOUPRAYEN, 14. Vicente FERNANDEZ, 8. Jimmy JEGGO, 7. Mathew LECKIE, 10. Tolgay ARSLAN, 44. Marin JAKOLIS, 11. Leo NATEL, 9. Jamie MACLAREN (C).
Substitutes: 33. Patrick BEACH (GK), 17. Terry ANTONIS, 21. Alessandro LOPANE, 22. Curtis GOOD, 25. Callum TALBOT, 35. Zane SCHREIBER, 37. Max CAPUTO.
What happened?
It was an even first 15 minutes of action with little attacking done at either end of the pitch.
Western United did have the ball in the back of the net at one point, but it didn’t take long for the linesman to correctly raise his flag.
The crucial moment of the game would come perhaps slightly earlier than anticipated, a Tolgay Arslan corner in the 19th minute proving the difference.
Our number 10 whipped in a cross towards the near post that was smartly flicked on by Marin Jakolis, perfectly finding our skipper who was patiently waiting at the back post for a textbook tap-in.
Western improved following the goal and played some good football in search of an equaliser, Jamie Young called into action and sharply denying Lachie Wales twice within a couple of minutes after the 30-minute mark.
It was Young again coming up big just two minutes into the second half, padding away a Michael Ruhs shot from range before comfortably claiming the follow-up effort.
Chances came at both ends as the momentum continued to switch hands throughout the second half.
Jimmy Jeggo played an incisive ball through midfield in the 68th minute to Maclaren, who combined nicely with Jakolis and eventually got the ball back – but wasn’t able to get the finish past Tom Heward-Belle in goal.
Young was again important in the ensuing phase of play, tipping a Western United header over the bar and out for a corner in a not-too-dissimilar fashion to his end-of-game heroics last week.
While it was certainly a tense final 20 minutes for City fans both in AAMI Park and watching on at home, our defence never look in danger and stood up to every challenge thrown their way.
What’s next?
The win ensured we’d play Finals football for the 10th year in a row, setting up a crunch Melbourne Derby Elimination Final.
Tickets will go on sale tomorrow. Stay tuned to Club channels for more details!
