Melbourne City have found their mojo following three consecutive draws in a 3-1 victory over Central Coast Mariners on Sunday evening in Gosford.
It was quite a mediocre start to the first match on the coast in over a month as both sides shared equal possession but failed to create any exciting opportunities.
City’s attack began to find their feet after some errors from the Mariners backline. A brilliant save from Mark Birightti wasn’t enough to stop a second-chance effort from City striker Jamie Maclaren to take a 1-0 lead in the 18th minute.
Central Coast’s attack seemed sluggish and out-of-sync with their ball movement. Both coach Nick Montgomery and skipper Oliver Bozanic pleading to his side to be better on the ball.
The faithful also weren’t impressed with cries to move the ball forward.
Finally, minutes before half-time forward Marco Urena found the bottom corner of goal with an incredible strike just outside the box to draw level.
Back in it with this piece of creativity from Marco 🇨🇷
Superb finish from the number 1⃣2⃣ #CCMFC #WontBackDown #CCMvMCY pic.twitter.com/G4FA7CkpqV
— Central Coast Mariners (@CCMariners) January 23, 2022
A bit of the same experience for fans entering the second half as Central Coast created the first real opportunity.
A run from Urena to cut back to Moresche one-on-one with goalkeeper Tom Glover was snuffed at before a cross from Melbourne City at other end found Andrew Nabbout to break the deadlock minutes later.
Central Coast continued with their attacking phases though were unable to get a shot at goal.
City on the other continued to rain down shots at Birighitti, who remained solid at the back.
The lead would eventually grow as some sloppy corner defence from Central Coast led to a questionable goal from A-League Men debutant Carl Jenkinson with question marks surrounding a possible handball.
Jenko on debut! 🤩
🎥 @10FootballAU#CmonCity | #CCMvMCY pic.twitter.com/JK5zPNTUFA
— Melbourne City FC (@MelbourneCity) January 23, 2022
It was dominant performances from City following three consecutive draws. It’s a real confidence booster for them, while the Mariners will be looking at where it all went wrong.
Feature Image Credit: Melbourne City FC
Central Coast Mariners 1 (Marco Urena 40′)
Melbourne City FC 3 (Jamie Maclaren 18′, Andrew Nabbout 57′, Carl Jenkinson 84′)
Stadium: Central Coast Stadium
Referee: Stephen Lucas
Assistant Referees: Ryan Gallagher & Kearney Robinson
Fourth Official: Kurt Ams
Central Coast Mariners: Mark BIRIGHITTI (GK), Cy GODDARD (Harry MCCARTHY 59′), Oliver BOZANIC, Matheus RODRIGUES, Beni NKOLOLO (Matthew HATCH 59′), Marcos URENA, Kye ROWLES, Storm ROUX (James BAYLISS 75′), Maximillien BALARD (Harrison STEELE 54′), Jacob FARRELL, Ruon TONGYIK (Cameron WINDUST 59′)
Unused Subs: Lawrence CARUSO (GK), Damian TSEKENIS
Melbourne City FC: Thomas GLOVER (GK), Scott GALLOWAY, Matthew LECKIE (Stefan COLAKOVSKI 90′), Aidan O’NEILL, Jamie MACLAREN, Floirin BERENGUER-BOHRER, Andrew NABBOUT, Connor METCALFE, Marco TILIO (Taras GOMULKA 73′), Kerrin STOKES (Carl JENKINSON 68′), Jordan BOS
Unused Subs: Matthew SUTTON (GK), Manuel PUCCIARELLI, Jordan HALL, Max CAPUTO
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