The clash
Melbourne City FC will be looking for its third home win in a row this Saturday night when it takes on Perth Glory at AAMI Park.
Get your tickets for City v Perth now!
This will be City’s second home game in a row after Round 15’s 2-0 win over the Newcastle Jets.
It took just eight minutes for Craig Noone to score his second goal in as many weeks with the winger unleashing a curling effort on his left boot from outside the box.
Jamie Maclaren had his 13th goal of the season early in the second half, converting from the penalty spot and doubling City’s lead.
City had a couple of nervous moments late in the second half but a goal line clearance from Harrison Delbridge along with some important challenges from his fellow defenders ensured City would take all three points.
Perth secured an important win away from home last week, beating the Western Sydney Wanderers 1-0 with former City striker Bruno Fornaroli scoring the lone goal.
This extended the Glory’s winning streak to six as they continue to be the form side of the competition.
This weekend’s match-up will be crucial for both teams with Perth sitting in third place, two points behind City and still with a game in hand.
After starting the season with just one win in its first seven games, Perth has completely turned its season around and a lot of that has been to do with the form of Fornaroli who has scored six goals over the course of the winning streak, having had scored just two in the first seven games.
The Glory defence has been rock solid all year, having allowed just 12 goals and keeping five clean sheets, both being the best of any team in the A-League.
Last time they met
These teams met at AAMI Park in early December, and it was City who went into the fixture as heavy favourites. The hosts sat in second place while the Glory were sitting on the bottom of the table with just one win. Despite this, Perth came away with a comprehensive 0-3 win and the club hasn’t looked back since, winning every game since then. After having been on fire early in the season scoring nine goals in his first four matches, Maclaren was double marked by the Perth defenders and had little impact on the game.
Team News
The team is in for this week’s squad, see who’s in and who’s out in our Team News.
What was said
Melbourne City FC midfielder Josh Brillante
“[It’s a] massive game. We like to take each week as a massive game and, obviously, it being second vs third makes it a bigger occasion. These are the games that players need to step up in and show what they’re capable of.”
When and where
City will host Perth Glory at AAMI Park on Saturday night, kick off 7:30pm, before heading to South Australia to take on Adelaide United and then returning home to host the Feb Derby! Click here to get your tickets!
