Melbourne City got off to the perfect start in our A-League Men’s Semi-Final tie, recording a clinical 3-0 victory over Western United in the first leg at AAMI Park on Friday night.
A powerful early header from Germán Ferreyra set the tone, before Yonatan Cohen and Mathew Leckie found the back of the net in the second half to hand City a commanding lead heading into next weekend’s second leg.
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Team News
As forecast earlier in the week, Head Coach Aurelio Vidmar made just one change to the starting XI that defeated Sydney FC to close out the regular season.
Nathaniel Atkinson was ruled out due to a calf injury, with Callum Talbot stepping in at right back in a like-for-like swap.
Starting XI: 33. Patrick BEACH (GK), 2. Callum TALBOT, 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), 6. Steven UGARKOVIC, 7. Mathew LECKIE, 35. Medin MEMETI, 36. Harry SHILLINGTON, 41. Lawrence WONG, 47. Kavian RAHMANI.
What happened?
It was a strong opening from City, with Patrick Beach called into action early to deny Hiroshi Ibusuki’s long-range effort. The early possession was all City’s as Western United sat deep, looking to strike on the counter.
City’s dominance paid off in the 16th minute. After a pair of dangerous corners, Marco Tilio delivered a pinpoint ball into the area, where Germán Ferreyra rose above the pack to head home the opener.
Chances continued to fall City’s way. Max Caputo went close after being found by Cohen, before Tilio burst through in the 36th minute, but fired just over in a one-on-one opportunity.
Western United created a few moments of their own late in the half, with Matthew Grimaldi, Michael Ruhs and Tate Russell all testing City’s defensive line – but none could find the breakthrough.
Just minutes after the restart, City struck again. A slick attacking move involving Tilio saw Cohen find space on the right and unleash a stunning curling strike with his left foot, finding the far corner to make it 2-0.
Leckie was introduced in the 59th minute and wasted no time making his mark. Just over 10 minutes later, a clever lofted ball from Tilio found Cohen in the area, who calmly brought it down and laid it off for Leckie to fire into the bottom corner.
Despite the scoreline, Western continued to push forward in search of a reply, but Ferreyra, Aziz Behich, Callum Talbot and Kai Trewin stood tall at the back.
Trewin made a brilliant last-ditch challenge in the 75th minute, before Patrick Beach capped off the night with a superb save in the dying moments to preserve the clean sheet.
What’s next?
It’s a dream start to our Semi-Final tie, but the job is only halfway done.
City will return to AAMI Park next Saturday night for the decisive second leg as we look to book a spot in the 2025 A-League Men’s Grand Final against either Auckland FC or Melbourne Victory.
