Melbourne City has wrapped up its tour of India on Friday night with a 6-0 loss to La Liga outfit Girona FC in Kochi.
City were outclassed by their Spanish opponents with Girona finding three goals either side of the break to round out the comprehensive result at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
The travelling squad will return home to Melbourne immediately after the match as they look to prepare for the August 7 FFA Cup clash against Brisbane Roar at Dolphin Stadium.
Starting XI
Warren Joyce made four changes to the starting eleven that took on Kerala Blasters with defensive pairing Bart Schenkeveld and Osama Malik sitting out the contest, being replaced by Harrison Delbridge and 17-year-old Mitch Graham. Bruno Fornaroli also made his way into the eleven, replacing Anthony Caceres while Eugene Galekovic started between the sticks.
What happened
City began on the front foot in the match as they looked to catch their opponents off guard in the opening stages of the contest.
Game one man of the match, Riley McGree had the first chance of the evening after five minutes as a sharp combination with Michael O’Halloran saw the midfielder’s strike on goal deflect just past the upright to send an early scare.
It was all Girona after that though and the La Liga side opened the scoring after 11 minutes as Cristian Portugues beat Delbridge for speed as he blasted home past Galekovic and the forward would have his second six minutes later.
The Spaniards flexed their muscle and continued to drive forward, adding a third after 25 minutes. It was a lethal cutback that undid City as a free Anthony Lozano taped into an empty net to reward Girona’s dominance on the match.
City found chances late in the first half to peg one back and came closest when Fornaroli muscled his way past the Girona defence one the stroke of half time. The forward’s dink had the keeper beat but trickled its way past the back post in what was his side’s best chance of the match.
Girona looked to put the foot on the pedal in the second half and after two early chances in quick succession, their fourth caught City off guard on the set piece. Juan Pedro Ramirez rose tallest from the corner to nod in another for his side as their grip on the match tightened.
A sloppy fifth and a goal in injury time capped off a dark night for City in a match where they were shown up by their fellow City Football Group side who compete in one of the world’s premier football competitions.
What’s next
City will look to take the positives from their trip to India as they return home to CFA Melbourne to prepare for their FFA Cup clash against Brisbane Roar on Tuesday 7 August at Dolphin Stadium in the outer suburbs of Brisbane.
