Melbourne City turned out in style at AAMI Park on Saturday night, dismantling Sydney FC 5-1 to lock in second spot on the A-League Men’s table – securing qualification to the AFC Champions League Elite and a direct path to the Semi-Finals.
Aurelio Vidmar’s side were at their clinical best, netting three times before the break and controlling proceedings throughout to close out the regular season in emphatic fashion.
Captain Aziz Behich opened the scoring inside five minutes with a thunderous strike – his first A-League goal in over a decade – before Max Caputo and Marco Tilio added to the tally in a dominant first-half display.
City didn’t let up after the break, with Andreas Kuen and substitute Medin Memeti both finding the back of the net to cap off a complete team performance.
Team News
Vidmar named an unchanged starting XI from last weekend’s draw with Adelaide United, with the only change coming on the bench where Mathew Leckie was included after recovering from a hamstring niggle.
Starting XI: 33. Patrick BEACH (GK), 13. Nathaniel ATKINSON, 22. Germán FERREYRA, 27. Kai TREWIN, 16. Aziz BEHICH (C), 19. Zane SCHREIBER, 21. Ale LOPANE, 30. Andreas KUEN, 10. Yonatan COHEN, 23. Marco TILIO, 17. Max CAPUTO
Substitutes: 18. Dakota OCHSENHAM (GK), 2. Callum TALBOT, 7. Mathew LECKIE, 35. Medin MEMETI, 39. Emin DURAKOVIC, 41. Lawrence WONG, 47. Kavian RAHMANI
What happened?
City got off to a dream start through a fifth-minute corner. Sydney ‘keeper Harrison Devenish-Meares could only punch Marco Tilio’s delivery as far as captain Aziz Behich, who unleashed a composed finish into the bottom corner to open the scoring.
The visitors nearly responded through Joe Lolley, but Patrick Beach produced a fingertip save to divert his effort onto the post. At the other end, Caputo had a sight on goal after being played in by Cohen, but was denied by the onrushing goalkeeper.
Caputo wouldn’t be denied for long though. A clever ball from Tilio in the 26th minute carved open the Sydney defence, and the 19-year-old striker did the rest – twisting away from his defender before slamming home inside the near post.
Sydney struck the woodwork for the second time shortly after, but City made them pay in ruthless fashion. Nathaniel Atkinson picked out Tilio with a lofted ball into the area, and the winger did brilliantly to bring it down, hold off his defender and slot home to make it 3-0.
Kuen added City’s fourth just after the break, bursting into the box and finishing strongly after showing strength to hold off his marker.
Although Sydney pulled a goal back through Patryck Klimala on 66 minutes, City’s dominance continued – the midfield trio of Kuen, Zane Schreiber and Ale Lopane controlling the tempo in the closing stages.
The final blow came in the dying seconds as substitute Medin Memeti capped off a lively cameo with his fifth goal of the season, firing home from close range to complete the 5-1 scoreline.
What’s next?
City will now enjoy a well-earned week off before returning to action in the Semi-Finals.
The team will await the results of the Elimination Finals to find out our opponent, with a two-legged tie standing between us and a place in the 2025 A-League Men’s Grand Final.
