Melbourne City has continued its positive pre-season preparations on Sunday afternoon as it defeated Perth Glory 1-0 at CFA Melbourne.
A powerful strike from Dario Vidosic separated the sides as City secured yet another clean sheet ahead of their Round 1 Melbourne Derby.
A fast-paced opening to the match showed both sides were raring to go for the new season as the tempo and movement in the opening minutes was on show.
City had the ball in the net after eight minutes as Riley McGree snuck a wonderfully weighted through ball under the bar however the linesman’s flag was up, ruling out the goal for offside.
The hosts didn’t have to wait long for the opener though as a vicious strike by Vidosic from outside the area fizzed past Liam Reddy in the Perth goal. A slight deflection along the way looked to have aided Vidosic’s strike but nonetheless the effort beelined towards the side netting.
The opener sparked Perth back into the contest however it would be City once again who looked to double their lead.
A wonderfully weighted set piece on the left wing from Vidosic found McGree in front of his man inside the area as his deflected flick towards goal looked destined for the bottom corner. The effort trickled past Reddy’s far post as the effort went inches wide to a second.
The visitors pushed, looking for the reply as efforts from Alex Grant via a set piece and Fabio Feirrera – with a volley from the edge of the area – failed to trouble the City goal with an vigour as Joyce’s side entered the break a goal ahead.
The main change at the break saw Bruno Fornaroli replace Lachlan Wales at the top of the forward structure as Joyce’s side maintained their first half shape in the opening stages of the second stanza.
Perth found themselves with the best chances of the second half as they began to press higher up the park to retain possession. A sloppy City clearance after 64 minutes opened the door for the visitors to play in Fabio Ferreira as his deflected strike on goal almost snuck under Galekovic’s crossbar.
A sustained possessional period from both sides followed as substitutes stunted the general flow of the match, seeing chances few and far between before an eventful final ten minutes.
First a set piece from Jake Brimmer after 80 minutes looked to catch Galekovic unaware, as the custodian tipped the effort over the bar then a chance from a City turnover on the break to Joel Chianese saw his deflected strike hit the side netting as Perth failed to find an avenue back into the match.
The match ended on a sour note for City as second half substitute Rostyn Griffiths was sent off for a second bookable offence in the final minutes of the match however a positive performance from hosts and another clean sheet sees Warren Joyce’s men primed for the final week of pre-season ahead of their trip to Shepparton on Friday to face Western Sydney.
Starting XI: Galekovic, Jamieson, Delbridge, Schenkeveld, De Laet, Brattan, Caceres, Vidosic, McGree, Berenguer, Wales
Bench: Birighitti, Griffiths, Fornaroli, La Rocca, Pasiotis, Portelli, Metcalfe, Lesiotis
