Melbourne City FC suffered a 2-0 defeat away from home to Perth Glory on Wednesday night.
Despite creating enough chances, City couldn’t find the back of the net as goals in either half to Callum Timmins saw Perth take all three points.
Starting XI
Patrick Kisnorbo named a strong line-up for City’s first A-League Men fixture in almost a month.
Curtis Good and Nuno Reis were named in the heart of defence, with Carl Jenkinson and skipper Scott Jamieson the full-backs. Rostyn Griffiths, Connor Metcalfe and Marco Tilio were named in midfield, while Andrew Nabbout, Jamie Maclaren and Mathew Leckie – who returned from injury – were the front three.
What happened?
City started like a house on fire and almost had the dream start inside a minute through Jamie Maclaren, but the strikers shot across goal was well saved.
Despite all the early possession, it was the home side who would go ahead in the fourth minute through a stunning Callum Timmins long range strike.
City would continue to control the possession as Perth sat back and looked to attack mostly on the counter.
This almost saw the home side double its advantage just before the half hour mark, but Tom Glover did well to pull off a good save against a powerful Antonee Burke-Gilroy strike to keep City in the game.
Jamie Maclaren almost extended his Golden Boot lead in the 37th minute with a shot from the edge of the box which hit the inside of the post, but somehow, it didn’t find its way into the back of the net.
City again had a great chance in the dying stages of the half, this time through Rostyn Griffiths, but the towering header from the central defender was kept out by a remarkable Liam Reddy save.
The second half followed a similar pattern to the first, with City again controlling much of the possession but not being able to find the back of the net.
A great individual effort from Mathew Leckie in the 62nd minute saw him fool the Glory defence with a lovely stepover, before unleashing a shot that beat Liam Reddy, but crucially, not the crossbar.
City’s frustrations continued when Callum Timmins had his second of the night just five minutes later, doubling Perth’s advantage.
Chances proved themselves hard to come by for either team for the remainder of the contest, and things went from bad to worse for City in the dying stages with Curtis Good sent off after being shown a second yellow card.
What’s next?
The race to the Premiers Plate will all come down to the final round. City can seal the Premiership with a win at home over Wellington Phoenix, and you can click here to grab your tickets and ensure you’re there to cheer them on.
