The clash
Melbourne City FC will complete its pre-season on Friday night when it travels to Kingston Heath to take on NPL team Bentleigh Greens.
An extended City squad will play Bentleigh’s youth side at 6.15pm, before City’s first team faces the Greens at 8.15pm.
City will be looking to finish the pre-season undefeated – following a 3-3 draw with Melbourne Victory, a 2-1 win against Western United, a 3-3 draw against Newcastle, and most recently a 3-2 win against Western United.
A Jamie Maclaren brace and an Aiden O’Neill stunner was enough to secure the win last Saturday as City continue to build ahead of the start of the A-League season.
Another game, another haul from Jamie Maclaren as he continued his impressive pre-season form against Western United in our 3-2 win on Saturday afternoon. (Oh, and what a banger from @aidenoneill98! 😉)
Match Report 📰 https://t.co/iQ2nzNvyzW pic.twitter.com/kDwDKHvkSv
— Melbourne City FC (@MelbourneCity) December 12, 2020
Maclaren – last season’s Golden Boot winner, is in top goal-scoring form less than two weeks out from the season opener, having scored six goals across City’s four pre-season matches.
Craig Noone and Andrew Nabbout – the other two members of City’s front three, have also found the back of net in these friendlies as the chemistry continues to build between the dangerous trio.
New signings O’Neill and Ben Garuccio have both impressed and will be looking for another strong performance as they look to press their claims for a place in the Patrick Kisnorbo’s starting XI for City’s season opening Grand Final rematch against Sydney FC on December 30.
Last time they met
City also travelled to Bentleigh last pre-season in preparation for its A-League campaign, winning 3-0 against the NPL side.
Craig Noone, Ramy Najjarine, and Adrian Luna all got on the scoresheet for City that night in what was a strong performance and a sign of things to come.
How to watch
Tickets will be available at the gate for $10 and capacity will be subject to COVIDsafe numbers at the ground.
This match will be live streamed via City’s website, Facebook, and YouTube channels. The stream will be hosted by the team at Talking City and will feature pre-match, half-time, and post-match coverage. Click here to watch!
Match Details
Bentleigh Greens v Melbourne City FC
Friday 18 December 2020
Kingston Heath Soccer Complex, Cheltenham
Kick-off 8.15pm
