Melbourne City FC secured back-to-back wins to begin the A-League Men’s season with a 2-0 win over Brisbane Roar away from home on Friday night.
Jamie Maclaren scored twice in the first half, before City were forced to play virtually the whole second half with 10 men.
Team News
Head Coach Patrick Kisnorbo named an unchanged line-up from City’s Round 1 win over Western United.
The only change came on the bench, where Luke Oresti replaced Raphael Borges Rodrigues who’s currently away with the U20 national team.
Starting XI: 1. Tom GLOVER (GK), 25. Callum TALBOT, 6. Thomas LAM, 3. Scott JAMIESON (C), 38. Jordan BOS, 13. Aiden O’NEILL, 16. Taras GOMULKA, 14. Valon BERISHA, 15. Andrew NABBOUT, 7. Mathew LECKIE, 9. Jamie MACLAREN.
Substitutes: 33. Matthew SUTTON (GK), 2. Scott GALLOWAY, 8. Richard VAN DER VENNE, 18. Jordon HALL, 23. Marco TILIO, 30. Luke ORESTI, 36. Kerrin STOKES.
What happened?
City got off a strong start, bossing the contest from the first whistle.
78% of possession in the first 15 minutes told the story, although City were patient in those early stages and didn’t have too many clear sights at goal as a result.
City fans wouldn’t have to wait much longer though for the opener. A 22nd minute corner saw Brisbane’s resistance broken, with Thomas Lam winning the crucial second ball with a deft touch to lay it into the path of Andrew Nabbout.
The winger met the ball with a fierce first-time strike that Roar keeper Jordan Holmes could do little about.
While it did initially seem to be a Nabbout goal, upon further inspection, the goal was awarded to Maclaren after replays showed a deflection off the striker’s heel.
City’s whole front three looked ominous early, as Mathew Leckie picked up right where he left off last week and caused plenty of problems for Brisbane’s defence.
He almost had City’s second of the night in the 36th minute, unleashing an outside-of-the-boot strike that forced a superb diving save from the keeper.
It didn’t take long though for that second goal to come, with Maclaren unsurprisingly the man to double City’s advantage on his 100th club appearance.
Callum Talbot won a penalty after being brought down in the box, and City’s star number nine would make no mistake in despatching the spot kick.
The second half got off to almost the worst start possible for City, as Taras Gomulka saw red for a challenge on Kai Trewin.
Although City did play pretty much the whole second half with 10 men, you probably wouldn’t have known from watching the action. Kisnorbo’s team continued to control possession and never looked threated.
As you’d expect though in the second half after going down to 10 men, City didn’t create quite as many chances, but nor did it not too.
Thomas Lam had another strong outing at the back, while Scott Jamieson looked just as comfortable in his second match playing in the heart of defence.
Richard van der Venne entered the pitch in the 55th minute for his City debut and had a few nice moments.
With Gomulka set to miss the next fixture due to his red card, van der Venne did more than enough to put his name forward for a first start next week.
What’s next?
City returns to AAMI Park next week to face Melbourne Victory in an away Melbourne Derby. City fans can click here to purchase tickets and we encourage you to purchase in the away bay!
