City fans know the ‘big game’ allure Tim Cahill brings with him to every match but Friday night’s blockbuster clash with Sydney FC at AAMI Park has the making of what the Socceroos all-time time top goal-scorer brought to the Westfield FFA Cup Final in November.
Cahill’s heroics in the Final saw City lift its first piece of silverware and with his side unbeaten against the Sydneysiders this season, the midfielder is confident City can inflict back-to-back losses to the league-leaders.
“This is like another FFA Cup Final,” Cahill said.
“They are coming to our place. Everyone has got to be excited about this game because there is a lot on it. We’ve won the last game [here] and we drew, we’re excited by this game because they’re top of the ladder, they’ve been the best team consistently and we definitely want to do well against Sydney FC.
“Every week we’re working of different elements and when you watch our game, you can see we are striving for the three points. When you play against Sydney, you know they are going to come here and defend. It’d be very unlikely for the to come out and attack because they know that we’ve got a lot going forward but they’ve based themselves off a manager that makes sure they are well drilled.
“In the game on the weekend, we know Sydney are going to sit back and they are going to wait and they are going to want to hit when it counts so we need different elements in the game we have to change to take it to them to make sure we are ready and that’s a challenge we like.
There is no doubt the past fortnight has sparked an important run towards the Finals Series with an understrength side picking up a 2-2 draw with fellow finals combatants Brisbane Roar and last week’s demolition of Wellington and Cahill is confident that this will be the start of an important run.
“It’s a real steeliness that’s coming through,” he said.
“Watching the Brisbane game and seeing them and the way that they played and how we are really starting to mix together and get the compactness really strong.
“The manager is starting to bring in his own traits and with him being a defender and someone that’s got a real strong mindset of being disciplined, it’s starting to show in our games which is great because the chances are coming and we are being clinical.
“This period has been great because the discipline in the side really shows. The way we are starting to really implement a strong team bond and I think we can only show that by playing games but people are starting to see we are being positive as a group and being accountable with our football whether we win or lose.”
City prepare to take on Sydney this Friday night at AAMI Park, kick-off 7.50pm. Click here to sign up for our 3 Match Membership or get your tickets for the match below.
