Melbourne City returned to AAMI Park on Saturday evening and made the most of our home comforts, securing a valuable 1-0 win over Central Coast Mariners to continue our Finals push.
A well-worked set-piece finished off by Medin Memeti was enough to separate the sides, as City picked up another three points in our pursuit of a top-two finish.
Team News
Coming off the back of a strong away win over Sydney FC, City Head Coach Aurelio Vidmar opted to stick with a winning formula and named an unchanged starting XI.
The only change to the matchday squad came on the bench, with Steven Ugarkovic returning from suspension in place of Zane Schreiber.
Starting XI: 33. Patrick BEACH (GK), 13. Nathaniel ATKINSON, 22. Germán FERREYRA, 26. Samuel SOUPRAYEN, 16. Aziz BEHICH (C), 27. Kai TREWIN, 21. Ale LOPANE, 30. Andreas KUEN, 23. Marco TILIO, 35. Medin MEMETI, 17. Max CAPUTO.
Substitutes: 60. Lachie CHARLES (GK), 2. Callum TALBOT, 6. Steven UGARKOVIC, 10. Yonatan COHEN, 38. Harry POLITIDIS, 41. Lawrence WONG, 47. Kavian RAHMANI.
What happened?
It was a scrappy opening to the contest, with neither side able to take control early. The Mariners had three shots in the first 15 minutes but offered little else in attack throughout the first half, rarely troubling Patrick Beach in goal.
City steadily grew into the game and began to dominate possession, though clear-cut chances were hard to come by against a compact Mariners defence.
The deadlock was broken in the 29th minute, thanks to a superbly executed set-piece.
Andreas Kuen played short to Marco Tilio, whose whipped cross to the back post found Kai Trewin.
The defender headed back across goal to Medin Memeti, who tapped in from close range to give City the lead.
With momentum on our side, City looked the more dangerous team for the remainder of the half and into the second.
Tilio and Trewin continued to impress, and it was almost two in the 56th minute when a rapid Tilio-led counterattack saw both Caputo and Memeti go agonisingly close to scoring.
City’s defence held strong in the final stages despite some late set-piece threats from Central Coast.
Ferreyra, Souprayen and Co. were composed at the back, and Beach remained largely untested as the clean sheet was preserved and the three points secured.
What’s next?
City will be back at AAMI Park next Friday night when we host Brisbane Roar in another crucial clash.
