City leave it late against Buriram, breath new life into ACLE campaign
And so, Melbourne City’s return to Asian football may yet have life in it, the A-League Men’s representatives in this year’s Asian Champions League Elite storming back to secure a 2-1 over Thai Powers Buriram United at AAMI Park on Tuesday afternoon; Goran Čaušić’s 72nd-minute strike first answered by Elbasan Rashani’s 83rd-minute equaliser and then supplanted by Max Caputo’s 97th-minute sealer.
A glimmer of hope has now been breathed into a campaign that, up until Rashani’s leveller, looked like it was destined to be dealt an early coup de grâce following opening game defeats against Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Vissel Kobe. Instead, the dramatic triumph over the Thai champions instills hope that Aurelio Vidmar’s unit can become the first Australian side since Melbourne Victory in 2020 to advance to the knockout stages – eight of the twelve teams in both the East and Western regions advancing to the Round of 16.
“Very pleased with the three points,” said Vidmar. “I thought, overall, we deserved the win.
“I know it came pretty late. We put ourselves in a position before we scored the goals [to be] pretty precarious, because they weren’t really doing much going forward. We handled their forward movement quite well.
“So it was a little bit disappointing to concede the goal. But to be honest, the spirit that the players showed, they really wanted to win and [I was] really pleased.”
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Rashani’s effort, the substitute finishing well after being picked out in space atop the six-yard box by an Aziz Behich cutback, sparked what was looking like an unlikely turnaround.
City had been largely lukewarm to that point, hardly creating anything that would threaten Neil Etheridge in the Buriram goal across the second stanza and falling behind when they repeatedly failed to clear their lines on a corner, eventually allowing Čaušić to pounce on a Patrick Beach save and fire home. They’d also survived what had initially been awarded as a goal for the Serbian midfielder just moments before halftime, only to be spared when a VAR review determined he had broken to meet a Peter Žulj free kick a moment too early and strayed into an offside position.
Admittedly, beyond a Žulj attempt that flashed wide of the goal in the 29th minute, the visitors didn’t produce much else in the contest, either. But heading into its final ten minutes, City had been able to muster a single shot on target throughout the preceding 80 and just the one of any kind in the second stanza.
“Very disappointing end to the game for us,” Mark Jackson, who took charge of Buriram for the first time just 12 days after he quit as boss of Central Coast, said.
“For long periods, we had a strategy and a game plan that was working, and we went one goal ahead, and we probably didn’t manage the momentum of the game from that moment.
“Ultimately, that cost us.”
But with Socceroos head coach Tony Popovic, as well as assistants Hayden Foxe and Frank Juric, watching on from the stands, it was two fullbacks who will have designs on being part of his squad at next year’s FIFA World Cup, one a very good chance and one that has work to do to force his way into consideration, that helped turn the tide.
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First, Behich received a pass from Zane Schriber out on the left, drove at Sandy Walsh and found the yard of space he needed to thread the ball to Rashani, who had drifted off the back shoulder of his marker and got himself in position to finish with aplomb.
Then, with just moments remaining, Nathaniel Atkinson was afforded far too much space out on the right to whip in a perfectly weighted delivery to the top of the six-yard box, where Caputo, who had ghosted behind the static defending of Kenny Dougall – a five-time Socceroo under Graham Arnold – lunged ahead and poked home.
It was Caputo’s second goal in as many starts, following his equaliser against Western Sydney in the A-League Men’s opening round that weekend, and continued a red-hot start to the season after he also netted two goals in the Young Socceroos U20 World Cup campaign. After missing the opening three months of the 2024-25 campaign with a syndesmosis injury, the 20-year-old looks primed for a big 2025-26.
“Two years ago, I was a part of the team that didn’t get out of the group stage - we picked up three points (total),” Caputo said.
“And to pick up our first three points tonight at home in front of the fans, it’s a good feeling, good for the club, and we’ll bring this confidence into the next game.”
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