Melbourne City continued preparations for the 2026/27 A-League Men’s season with a 2-1 win over Newcastle Jets in a behind-closed-doors friendly on Tuesday afternoon.
Played in blustery conditions at the City Football Academy Melbourne, ctrl:cyber Campus, the fixture provided a valuable hitout for Aurelio Vidmar’s squad as we continued building towards the new campaign.
Max Caputo opened the scoring early, before Besian Kutleshi netted our second just minutes after Newcastle responded in the second half.
Team News
Vidmar had a strong squad to choose from, with only a handful of players unavailable through international duty and minor niggles.
New signings Matheus Rossetto, Emiliano Marcondes and Awer Mabil all made their unofficial City debuts, while Club captain Aziz Behich featured for the first time since last season after a later return to training following his FIFA World Cup campaign with the Socceroos.
Starting XI: 40. James NIEUWENHUIZEN (GK), 13. Nathaniel ATKINSON, 4. Liam BONETIG, 2. Harrison DELBRIDGE, 16. Aziz BEHICH (C), 5. Matheus ROSSETTO, 24. Kavian RAHMANI, 10. Emiliano MARCONDES, 23. Medin MEMETI, 11. Awer MABIL, 9. Max CAPUTO.
Substitutes: 1. Macklin FREKE (GK), 42. Lachlan CHARLES (GK), 14. Besian KUTLESHI, 19. Quinn MACNICOL, 20. Ben MAZZEO, 21. Alessandro LOPANE, 34. Jayden NECOVSKI, 37. Akeem GERALD, 41. Lawrence WONG, 48. Dominic ARAVANIS, 71. Jake PILOVSKI, 77. Takeshi KANAMORI.
What happened?
With the breeze at our backs in the first half, City settled quickly and controlled much of the early possession.
A few early corners allowed us to put Newcastle under pressure, although the heavy wind made it difficult to fashion clean chances from set-piece situations.
Medin Memeti provided a lively outlet down the right in the opening stages, while there were also some promising early signs from the new faces in the final third.
One slick passage in the ninth minute saw Marcondes and Caputo combine nicely before Mabil was played into space, with his cutback deflected behind for another City corner.
The breakthrough arrived just a minute later.
After Rossetto worked hard to intercept a Jets pass, Memeti slipped a clever ball through for Caputo, who showed plenty of composure to lift his finish beyond the goalkeeper and into the back of the net to give City a deserved early lead.
Newcastle responded with a quick counterattack down the left in the 14th minute, forcing Nieuwenhuizen into a sharp save at his near post.
We almost doubled the advantage moments later when Caputo’s smart flick-on sent Mabil into a dangerous area. The Socceroo beat the goalkeeper with his effort, only to see the ball cannon into the post.
The Jets began to work their way into the contest around the 20-minute mark, enjoying a sustained spell of possession as they looked to wrestle back some control.
Rossetto showed plenty of strength and composure through midfield, helping City win possession and hold onto the ball under pressure.
Caputo then went close again in the 27th minute, striking the post with a strong effort as City continued to create the better chances of the opening half.
Down the left, Socceroo teammates Mabil and Behich began to combine with increasing confidence, showing some exciting early signs in their first minutes this pre-season.
Newcastle won a handful of corners late in the half, but City dealt with the danger well to take a 1-0 lead into the break.
Vidmar made five changes at half-time, with Jake Pilovski, Alessandro Lopane, Quinn MacNicol, Lawrence Wong and Takeshi Kanamori all introduced, with Newcastle now enjoying the heavy breeze at their backs.
The Jets started the second half strongly and forced Nieuwenhuizen into action again in the 52nd minute after City gave the ball away in defence, with the goalkeeper doing well to parry away a powerful strike.
Newcastle’s pressure eventually told in the 58th minute.
Nieuwenhuizen saved an initial long-range effort, but the rebound fell kindly for a Jets attacker, who was able to tap home from close range and level the scores.
Around the hour mark, Pilovski drove forward from left back and forced a good save with a powerful strike, before MacNicol tried his luck from range moments later and again tested the Newcastle goalkeeper.
City made the remainder of our outfield changes soon after, with Dominic Aravanis, Besian Kutleshi, Jayden Necovski, Ben Mazzeo and Akeem Gerald completing the substitutions.
The changes immediately brought fresh energy, as City restored the lead through Kutleshi, who remarkably found the net just 30 seconds after entering the pitch
Sensing an opportunity to press, the young talent won the ball back high up the pitch and fought his way through the Jets defence to produce a lovely finish with the outside of his boot to make it 2-1.
The goal gave City renewed confidence, with Gerald showing some nice moments in attack as he looked to test the Newcastle defence.
At the other end, Kutleshi and Necovski both stood up well as the Jets continued to push, helping City see out the closing stages in a contest shaped heavily by the conditions.
What’s next?
Preparations will continue on the training pitch over the coming weeks ahead of our 2026/27 A-League Men’s season opener against Auckland FC on Saturday 17 October.
Further friendlies will be played in the build-up to the new campaign, so stay tuned to our website and Club social channels for all the details.
