Ross McCormack scored against his former club but Dario Vidosic netted a late equaliser to salvage Melbourne City a point against Central Coast Mariners on Saturday afternoon.
It was a tight encounter personified by the physical battle between Kalifa Cisse and Bruno Fornaroli, which continued all throughout the match.
The former City man McCormack broke the deadlock in the 21st minute after Connor Pain found the Scotsman in space inside the 18-yard box.
Three minutes later City almost levelled the score, and would have if Bruno Fornaroli didn’t blast his shot wide after a nice pass from former Mariners, Lachlan Wales.
McCormack almost doubled his tally just before half-time with a free kick on the edge of the 18-yard box, only to be denied by a fantastic Eugene Galekovic save.
The majority of the second half was evenly contested with City unable to penetrate the Mariners defence.
Melbourne City were denied a penalty in the 75th minute after Cisse and Fornaroli went down in the penalty area holding each other’s jerseys. The VAR had a look and decided no penalty was warranted.
City had another great chance in the 79th minute after Riley McGree forced a good save out of Ben Kennedy.
The Mariners started to drop deeper in defence and as a result City began putting the Central Coast under pressure.
All of that pressure finally amounted to something when Dario Vidosic equalised for the visitors after a pinball like scramble in the penalty area 6 minutes from full-time, earning a point for Melbourne City.
Central Coast Mariners 1 (McCormack 21’)
Melbourne City 1 (Vidosic 84’)
Central Coast Stadium
Referee – Stephen Lucas
Assistant Referees – Lance Greenshield & James Cleal
Fourth Official – Stephen Laurie
VAR Official – Kris Griffiths-Jones
Central Coast Mariners: Ben Kennedy (GK), Jack Clisby, Anthony Golec, Kalifa Cisse, Kye Rowles, Tom Hiariej, Aiden O’Neill (Melling 78’), Michael McGlinchey (Murray 73’), Connor Pain (Oar 64’), Matt Simon (C), Ross McCormack
Unused subs: Adam Pearce (GK), Jake McGing
Melbourne City: Eugene Galekovic (GK), Ritchie De Laet (C), Bart Schenkeveld, Lacopo La Rocca (Griffiths 68’), Harrison Delbridge, Kearyn Baccus, Luke Brattan (Jameison 68’), Riley McGree, Lachlan Wales (Vidosic 73’), Florin Berenguer-Boher, Bruno Fornaroli
Unused subs: Mark Birighitti (GK), Anthony Caceres
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