Melbourne City will be vying for their second FFA Cup trophy when they travel to Adelaide to take on the Reds at Coopers Stadium on Wednesday 23 October. Ahead of the clash, we take a look at City’s journey to the FFA Cup Final 2019.
Round of 32: Campbelltown City 1-3 Melbourne City
Melbourne City began their FFA Cup 2019 campaign when they travelled to Steve Woodcock Sports Centre to take on reigning National Premier League (NPL) Campbelltown City in Head Coach Erick Mombaerts’ first competitive game in charge.
City’s star attacker, Jamie Maclaren, put the visitor’s ahead after 11 minutes when he latched onto Javier Cabrera’s cross with an intelligent finish. Campbelltown hit back despite falling behind to an early goal, as captain Iain Fyfe made no mistake from the penalty spot.
As the first half progressed City continued to dominate in the attacking third and were eventually rewarded when Craig Noone struck with his first competitive goal for the Club to hand Mombaerts’ men a 2-1 lead at the break.
In the 90+3rd minute City would secure their passage through to the Round of 16 as Jamie Maclaren met Adrian Luna’s perfectly weighted cross to nod home and secure his brace as well as the result.
Round of 16: Marconi Stallions FC 1-2 Melbourne City
Following City’s safe passage through to the Round of 16, City headed to Marconi Stadium to take on Marconi Stallions FC, a club rich in Australian football history.
Much-like he did in the Round of 32, Jamie Maclaren burst out of the blocks, breaking the deadlock inside the opening 90 seconds. Maclaren connected with Scott Galloway’s pinpoint cross, to make no mistake with a header from six yards out.
On 44 minutes, City were rewarded for their positive attacking play as Connor Metcalfe laid the ball out to Craig Noone who fired it into the bottom corner with a perfectly timed first-time finish.
With five minutes to play the home side were given hope as Fernandez pounced on a defensive error before chipping Dean Bouzanis to make it 2-1.
City withheld a nervy final period, before securing a safe passage through to the Quarter Finals.
Quarter Final: Melbourne City 3-0 Western Sydney Wanderers
After two successive FFA Cup wins over National Premier League opponents, City faced familiar Cup foes and fellow Hyundai A-League outfit, Western Sydney Wanderers.
In their first and only home game in the FFA Cup 2019 competition, City were out to impress in front of the home fans. In his first hit out at AAMI Park, Englishman Craig Noone opened the scoring after 34 minutes when he pounced on a fortuitous opportunity before slotting the ball into the back of an open net.
Soon after City’s first goal, Maclaren added another as he continued his run of form in front of goal. Again, combining with Scott Galloway, Maclaren made no mistake when he met the right back’s floating cross to make it 2-0 at the half time interval.
City continued to dominate the Wanderers defence as the second period progressed, finding gaps in-behind their back four. Noone then made it 3-0 when he ran onto Josh Brillante’s perfectly weighted long ball before curling an effort into the top corner, sending City into the last four.
Semi Final: Brisbane Strikers 1-5 Melbourne City
Melbourne City headed to Perry Park in Brisbane to take on NPL side Brisbane Strikers for a place in the FFA Cup 2019 Final.
Contrary to the rest of their Cup run, City were on the back foot early as the Strikers snatched an early lead when Andy Pengelly struck inside the opening three minutes of play. With 15 minutes of play remaining the first half, City hit back when Connor Metcalfe found the back of the net with his first senior goal.
A dominant City outfit ran away with the result in the second period as Jamie Maclaren netted a brace to go alongside goals to Javier Cabrera and Scott Galloway as City secured a spot in their second FFA Cup Final.
