City’s NPL3 squad will be back in the familiar surroundings of Parade College when it hosts North Sunshine Eagles FC on Saturday afternoon.
This fixture comes a week after City successfully made the trip down the highway, coming home from Ballarat with the three points after a strong 5-0 win.
A pair of classy first half goals from Arion Sulemani and Jordi Valadon set the scene for what was a strong performance from City, where it looked in control throughout the 90 minutes.
Returning to the squad after a few weeks off, Max Caputo joined the party in the second 45, netting a brace before Emin Durakovic scored a late screamer from outside the box to cap off the win.
The three points saw City maintain its four-point buffer atop the NPL3 table with seven fixtures remaining this season.
Saturday’s opponents, North Sunshine, come into the weekend’s fixture off the back of their best result in a month.
A 2-2 draw at home to Whittlesea Ranges saw the Eagles break a run of three losses in a row and should give the team some confidence ahead of taking on top of the table City.
That being said, North Sunshine would’ve been disappointed to have not walked away with all three points after leading 2-0 with just ten minutes to play. Redouane Sarakh and Brandon Fumic struck either side of the break, before Whittlesea goals in the 82nd and 94th minutes saw the points shared.
City will be looking to get on the front foot early and put North Sunshine under pressure from the opening whistle. With the visitors having conceded double the goals City have allowed so far this season, the likes of Arion Sulemani and Max Caputo will be dangerous should they get quality service into the box.
Head Coach John Maisano will be hoping to see his team take advantage of its opportunities early on Saturday afternoon, after leaving it late when these teams met back in Round 5.
That fixture looked destined to end with the points shared, before two City goals in as many minutes from Emin Durakovic and Moonib Adus saw the visitors steal the points in stoppage time.
Match Details
NPL3 Victoria: Round 16
Melbourne City FC v North Sunshine Eagles FC
Parade College
Saturday 2 July, 3:00pm kick-off
