It was a game of uncertainties between Melbourne City and Western United, as fans were welcomed back to AAMI Park for the first time in more than year to see end to end football take a 2-1 turn.
It was a strange game for the fans to get a grip on because as one side looked as if it would capitalise on its momentum, the opposite happened – time and time again.
For the first five minutes of the match things were even. For the next ten minutes, however, it was all City. Galloway and Maclaren were putting in some lovely balls and Western seemed to have no attacking answers of their own to bite back with.
Mark Rudan’s men began to settle around the 15 minute mark, and after being dominated for a period, control and possession started coming into Western’s play. Conor Pain was a standout in controlling the left wing and showcasing his attacking play.
Momentum was slowly starting to swing back in favour of the visitors, yet Vujika’s first goal for his new club in the 21st minute felt like a big surprise.
After that it became Western’s momentum to hold, with all the attacking coming from the men in Green until City’s Noone found the time and space to equalise in the 32nd minute.
It was similar to the goal which preceded it, as Noone’s goal was against the flow and perhaps a warning against complacency for both teams going into the second half.
The second half started a little more subdued in terms of the end to end football, however, the aggression and intensity had risen.
Western were the early team to get on top, before it flipped around the 65 minute mark. It appeared to be all City, with all that was standing in their way – a resolute Filip Kurto and a few wayward shots.
It was never going to hold up forever, as Maclaren eventually found a chance impossible to squander in the 84th minute and easily converted the tap in to put City in front.
Yet five minutes of injury time gave Western some good opportunities in the final third, however they were not able to wrestle the momentum back before the final whistle.
The game affirms City as right up the top of premiership favouritism, but their lack of consistency for the full 90 minutes was laid bare for the competition to see.
Melbourne City: 2 (Noone 32′, Maclaren 84′)
Western United: 1 (Vujika 22′)
Stadium: AAMI Park
Western United: Filip Kurto (GK), Ivan Vujica, Tomislav Uskok, Aaron Calver, Tomoki Imai, Connor Pain,Steven Lustica, Víctor Sánchez, Besart Berisha, Alessandro Diamanti, Iker Guarrotxena, Lachlan Wales (70′), Stefan Colakovski (73‘), Nicolas Milanovic (89‘)
Melbourne City: Tom Glover (GK), Scott Galloway, Ben Garuccio, Rostyn Griffiths, Curtis Good, Taras Gomulka, Adrián Luna, Connor Metcalfe, Jamie Maclaren, Craig Noone, Naoki Tsubaki, Kerrin Stokes (38′), Marco Tilio (26′), Florin Berenguer (73’)
Feature image credit: Western United
