It’s advantage Melbourne City in the race to secure the last remaining spot in the Finals Series after they defeated Western Sydney Wanderers 2-1 at CommBank Stadium to move above their opponents and into sixth on the table.
The away side took the lead in the 28th minute of the contest as Brazilian winger Leo Natel’s powerful shot from the edge of the box deflected off the head of Marcelo and into the back of the net.
The Wanderers then almost equalised through Zac Sapsford but while goalkeeper Jamie Young produced a save at one end there was nothing his opposite number Lawrence Thomas could do to stop winger Marin Jakolis from making it 2-0 to city in the 39th minute.
Clearly unhappy with his side’s first half showing, Marko Rudan made two changes at the break and it was one of those substitutes, Marcus Younis, who dragged his side back into the game with a perfectly placed header to make it 2-1 in the 69th minute.
Western Sydney dominated the last twenty minutes of the game and had several good chances to snatch a late equaliser but it wasn’t to be as Melbourne City held on for an enormous win which moves them two points above the Wanderers, and crucially, into the last remaining finals position with one game to go.
The win now puts City in the driver’s seat to secure a top six finish and they now know that should they match the Wanderers’ result in the final round then they will book their spot in the Finals Series.
Despite the Wanderers controlling the early possession it was City who should have taken the lead in the 15th minute.
A sloppy pass from captain Marcelo gifted City possession in the Wanderers defensive third and after a quick exchange of passes the cross was clipped in by Maclaren and onto the chest of Jakolis, but while the winger’s first touch was excellent his second let him down as he dragged his shot wide of the post from inside the six yard box.
The visitors then had several half-chances, both of which fell to the influential Tolgay Arslan while the Wanderers looked dangerous on the break as they tried to utilise the electric pace of Dylan Pierias.
However City looked the more menacing in front of goal and made it count in the 28th minute via a vicious strike from winger Natel.
Picked out by a precise cross-field ball from Mathew Leckie, Natel darted towards the left edge of the box before unleashing a powerful effort which flicked off the head of Marcelo and beyond the despairing dive of goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas.
Western Sydney were almost back on level terms within a matter of minutes after Pierias picked out Sapsford inside the box but the young forward’s effort was well-saved by Jamie Young at his near post.
However City were finding space far too easily in the middle of the park and they soon had their second thanks to a magnificent solo effort from Jakolis.
After drifting into the space between the Wanderers’ midfield and defence, Jakolis received the ball from Steven Ugarkovic and, under no pressure whatsoever, took his time before despatching a powerful effort in off the far post to make it 2-0, much to the delight of the City bench.
Having clearly seen enough at the break Western Sydney boss Marko Rudan made a double change, bringing on Marcus Younis and Nathan Barrie in place of Marcus Antonsson and Alex Bonetig.
Showing signs of improvement, the Wanderers began to control the tempo in the second half as they pushed for a way back into the contest and came close to pulling one back when midfielder Sonny Kittel warmed the gloves of Young with an effort from inside the box.
A quick break from a throw-in then saw Maclaren fire over from inside the box while Jakolis then fired over from a tight angle in the 67th minute as City now looked contempt to soak up the pressure and hit the home side on the counter.
However it was game on in the 69th minute and it was two substitutes that combined well to drag the Wanderers back into the game.
Brought on in place of full back Aidan Simmons, attacker Dylan Scicluna made an impact almost immediately as he delivered a deep cross to the back post which was headed back across goal and into the far corner by Younis to make it 2-1.
Younis then came close to bagging his and the Wanderers’ second in the 79th minute, but his curling effort from the right edge of the flew narrowly wide of the far post.
Pierias then came close to making it 2-2 in the 84th minute but the winger slipped as he pulled the trigger inside the box, firing his effort into the ground which enabled Young to tip the ball over the bar.
Now piling on the pressure, Younis was inches away from finding the equaliser in the 89th minute but the youngsters dipping effort from inside the box just didn’t dip enough as it found the crossbar rather than the back of the net.
