Melbourne City claimed early-season bragging rights in the Melbourne Derby on Saturday night, defeating Melbourne Victory 2–0 at AAMI Park in another impressive showing from Aurelio Vidmar’s youthful squad.
Max Caputo continued his fine run of form with an opening goal inside 90 seconds, before Peter Antoniou capped off the win in the second half with his first professional goal – marking a night to remember for City’s young brigade.
Team News
With just one training session between games following the midweek trip to Japan, Vidmar made three changes to his starting XI from Tuesday night’s AFC Champions League Elite win over Machida Zelvia.
Besian Kutleshi, the 16-year-old who became City’s youngest-ever A-League Men’s starter last weekend, returned to the lineup at right-back, while Takeshi Kanamori and Ben Mazzeo also came back into the XI.
Captain Nathaniel Atkinson led the side once again, while Peter Antoniou, another graduate of City Football Schools, was named among the substitutes after making his ALM debut last week.
Starting XI: 1. Patrick BEACH (GK), 44. Besian KUTLESHI, 22. Germán FERREYRA, 27. Kai TREWIN, 13. Nathaniel ATKINSON (C), 19. Zane SCHREIBER, 30. Andreas KUEN, 10. Takeshi KANAMORI, 20. Ben MAZZEO, 47. Kavian RAHMANI, 17. Max CAPUTO.
Substitutes: 33. Dakota OCHSENHAM (GK), 4. Liam BONETIG, 15. Andrew NABBOUT, 37. Peter ANTONIOU, 38. Beckham BAKER, 39. Emin DURAKOVIC.
What happened?
City got off to the dream start for the second time in a week, opening the scoring in under two minutes. Andreas Kuen played a perfectly weighted ball through the Victory backline for Caputo, who made no mistake, sliding a composed finish across Jack Duncan into the far corner to put City 1–0 up.
The early breakthrough gave City confidence, though we were dealt a setback in the 15th minute when skipper Atkinson was forced from the field with a hamstring concern. His replacement, Peter Antoniou, entered the fray with a big challenge ahead of him – just one week after making his A-League debut.
Victory responded with their best chance of the half through Juan Mata, whose curling effort from the edge of the area flew narrowly wide. Despite spending long spells defending, City held firm – Kai Trewin and Germán Ferreyra marshalling the backline with composure, while Kutleshi impressed once again in just his second professional start.
City almost doubled the lead just before the break when Mazzeo unleashed a powerful strike that flew inches wide of the post after a rapid counterattack.
At half-time, Victory had the edge in possession and attempts on goal, but City’s defensive structure and discipline ensured the 1–0 lead remained intact.
Vidmar made a tactical tweak at the break, bringing on Liam Bonetig for Kavian Rahmani, allowing Trewin to shift into midfield. The change gave City extra control, and just ten minutes later, we doubled our advantage.
A clever hold-up play from Kanamori on the edge of the area opened space for Antoniou, who timed his run perfectly before smashing home his first professional goal at the near post – a special moment for the 18-year-old City Academy graduate.
From there, City managed proceedings superbly. Patrick Beach was called into action several times, producing a fantastic reflex save to deny Matthew Grimaldi’s dipping effort.
At the other end, substitute Andrew Nabbout – fresh off his match-winning heroics in Japan – went close to adding a third, volleying narrowly over the bar in the 70th minute. Both sides had goals ruled out for offside late on, but City never seriously looked in danger as we saw out the Derby to secure all three points.
What’s next?
City will now enjoy a well-earned few days of rest heading into the international break.
Aurelio Vidmar’s men will return to A-League action on Friday 21 November, when they travel to Adelaide United before resuming their AFC Champions League Elite campaign the following week.
