With Western Sydney Wanderers needing a win to all but secure a top two finish on the table, Melbourne City needed to be at their best if they wanted to finish the regular season on a positive note as they prepare for finals.
In the first half, Melbourne City looked like they struggled to break through the Western Sydney defence despite maintaining much of the ball in usual City fashion.
But then things got even worse for Melbourne when Brandon Borrello opened the scoring accounts for the Wanderers in the 41st minute. However, coming out of the change rooms at halftime Melbourne City’s Marco Tilio looked the most likely to get Melbourne City back into the game. This eventuated in the 49th minute when Tilio made a long run through the centre of the pitch which he then finished off adeptly to level things back up for the premiers.
Tilio once again was the saviour of Melbourne City when in the 93rd minute he scored the winning goal just prior to the final whistle. Post-game, Melbourne City Head Coach, Rado Vidosic was extremely pleased with the 21-year-old’s performance.
“He was amazing second half,” said Vidosic.
“I think he just decided to go out and do something special and he delivered. We all know that he’s got that in him and maybe when he matures we’re gonna see more and more of that.
“He has a very bright future ahead of him.”
It was a disappointing result for Western Sydney as they hoped to gain a top two finish allowing them a week off prior to the semi-finals, but Marko Rudan is not worried that his side will have to win an extra game if they want to go all the way this season.
“We’ll be fine. We’ll be fine,” said Rudan.
“Tonight it was a game where the premiers showed why they are just that, and you could say they had not much to play for in terms of table position but they showed why they are as good as they are and I think we can learn a lot from that.
“Their mentality, their desire, and it’s not just their quality, but you can see how hard they work for each other on and off the ball.”
Since Melbourne City have finished on top of the ladder they will get an extra week off before they will host their first semi-final game, Vidosic has opted to give his players a bit of time off to celebrate their premiership win.
Feature Image Credit: Melbourne City
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