City will take on A-League Men’s opposition for the first time in its 2022/23 campaign at Casey Fields on Wednesday night.
Patrick Kisnorbo’s men will host Wellington Phoenix as City seeks to progress to the final eight of the Australia Cup, as it has done every season since the inaugural competition.
Wednesday’s clash also marks the first time City’s Men’s squad will play a competitive fixture at Casey Fields since the Club’s re-location to the South East last year.
All City Members and kids under the age of 14 will go free and simply just need to redeem a ticket via Ticketbooth. Memberships are now on-sale, while you can click here to purchase a ticket to Wednesday’s knockout fixture.
City secured its spot in the Round of 16 with a 1-0 win away to Newcastle Olympic a fortnight ago. While at times it was clearly evident it was the team’s first competitive hit out of the season, Kisnorbo’s men did enough to march on.
Academy product Luke Oresti was on the scoresheet late in the first half when he picked up the scraps of a Florin Berenguer cross that Newcastle failed to clear, and tapped home from close range.
City’s defensive intensity picked up in the second half and it had too – with Newcastle coming out a far more dangerous outfit, threatening to equalise on a number of occasions.
Kisnorbo would’ve been pleased his side held onto its clean sheet and now with another two weeks of pre-season under their ads belts, should be primed for a better showing in Wednesday’s clash.
City fans will have mixed recent memories of playing Wellington, with highs and lows coming while facing the team from across the ditch last season.
The last meeting was of course the most memorable as City secured back-to-back Premierships with a 2-1 win at AAMI Park back in May.
Before that came a big 6-0 City win, while the teams also faced off in last season’s Cup. Neither team could break the deadlock in 120 minutes of action that night, as City ultimately saw its Cup run come to an end on penalties.
This should serve as added motivation coming into Wednesday night, with the Cup the only piece of domestic silverware Kisnorbo is yet to secure since taking over as City’s Head Coach, albeit only getting one crack at it so far.
A similar line-up to the Round of 16 win will likely be on the cards for City this week, although fans could see both Andrew Nabbout and Mathew Leckie back in the starting mix as both have impressed on the track in recent weeks.
Match Details
Australia Cup: Round of 16
Melbourne City FC v Wellington Phoenix
Casey Fields (VFL Oval)
Wednesday 17 August, 7:30pm kick-off
