A quick turnaround is facing your City boys this week, back on the pitch this Wednesday night just three days after Sunday’s draw against Newcastle Jets.
After going down to 10 men in the first half following a questionable red card to skipper Scott Jamieson, City left it late but was still able to secure a point after Max Caputo netted his debut professional goal in stoppage time.
A new challenge awaits on Wednesday with plenty on the line… Here’s what to look out for!
A Melbourne Derby like no other
We’re sure it’s not news to you at this point, but just in case you’ve been living under a rock for 110 days… Wednesday’s fixture will be the resumption of December’s Melbourne Derby after a pitch invasion from Victory fans caused the original fixture to be abandoned.
The match will resume from the 22nd minute with a drop ball to our keeper, and your City boys will be ahead 1-0 after Aiden O’Neill’s cracking goal in the 11th minute.
Although he was controversially sent off in Sunday’s draw, skipper Scott Jamieson will be eligible to play in this fixture.
Football Australia deemed Wednesday’s match to be a started, but not completed fixture from prior to his send-off against Newcastle. Therefore, he is free to play in the replayed Derby and will miss our next full game on Monday against Wellington.
The race to the Plate continues to heat up
We’ve had a game in hand for what almost seems like the whole season, but that will no longer be the case following Wednesday night.
Your City boys currently sit two points clear of Adelaide United in second, a buffer we’ll be hoping to extend out to five points at the full-time whistle of the Derby.
Just five games remain (or 4.67 if we’re being exact) before the end of the season, so every game from here on out is massive.
In our favour is the fact that we’ll have to leave Melbourne just once, venturing away from AAMI Park on Saturday 15 April to face Central Coast.
With our eyes on becoming the only A-League Men’s team to win three Premierships in a row, coming away with maximum points on Wednesday will be huge.
Who steps up to the Derby occasion?
We saw an unlikely hero step up on Sunday, 17-year-old Max Caputo heading home a last-gasp equaliser to secure a share of the points after we played out the majority of the game with 10 men.
While it may look slightly different to a normal Derby on Wednesday night, the fact of the matter is – it’s still a huge game with plenty on the line for both teams.
Jamie Maclaren, the all-time leading scorer in the history of the fixture, has gone a few fixtures without finding the back of the net and you can guarantee he’ll be hungry to add to his 10 City goals against Victory.
Whether it’s the likes of a Jordan Bos bombing forward, a towering Curtis Good set-piece header, or Valon Berisha hitting one from range; Derbies are full of big moments, and if we have the better of those, we’ll walk away with the all-important three points.
What happened last time?
Our last meeting against Victory was in February this year where we were on the wrong side of a 3-2 result.
A brace from Mathew Leckie wasn’t quite enough to earn a share of the points on that night.
How have our opponents been travelling?
Although our cross-town rival may still remain just a point away from the bottom of the table, their Finals hopes are still very much in play.
A rejuvenated Victory outfit come into Wednesday’s clash off back-to-back wins, most recently coming from behind to take the points away to Wellington over the weekend.
Match Details
A-League Men: Round 8
Melbourne City FC v Melbourne Victory
AAMI Park
Wednesday 5 April, 7:00pm
