Finals come into focus for City after win over Wellington
After defeating Wellington to make it three wins in their last four, City's place in the A-League Men finals isn't secure, but nobody is winning more than they are right now as the season winds down.
35-years-old is a funny-old age to experience a near career-best campaign as a goalscorer, but Melbourne City aren’t going to turn down Aziz Behich’s newfound eye for goal, with his third goal of the campaign combining with Marcus Younis’ 76th minute sealer to give them a 2-0 win over the Wellington Phoenix and moving them one step closer to securing finals football.
It was a scrappy goal, the veteran cutting inside onto his right foot and not hitting it with all that much venom and fortunate enough that the deflection it took off Isaac Hughes completely wrongfooted keeper Josh Oluwayemi. And as neat as the build-up for that goal was, an extended period of possession in the final third eventually provided with a catalyst it needed by Nate Atkinson moving into the box with the ball; it was a lack of spectacular flash that was reflective of City’s performance.
The ideas were still there, but the execution wasn’t as smooth or decisive as it needed to be – not helped by the Phoenix presenting a more organised, and physical, defensive front than Central Coast and Western Sydney had in City’s two previous wins. Buoyed by a first win at AAMI Park in nine years the week prior, the Phoenix had a spell in the early stages of the second half without creating too much in the way of clear-cut opportunities, only for their resistance to be snuffed when Andreas Kuen sliced a pass behind their lines for Younis to run onto and, as the defence began their ultimately fruitless appeals for offside, slotted beyond Oluwayemi.
JDL Media is committed to keeping its reporting on Australian football away from paywalls.
If you’re in a position to, please consider supporting this coverage at Ko-Fi.
After starring against the Wanderers, meanwhile, Younis’ one-game suspension picked up in that clash seemed to have broken his momentum to that point, struggling to impose himself on the game in the same way he had the previous Saturday before looking to loosen up after the goal: having a spectacular bicycle kick cleared off the line in the 84th minute. Across from him, after arguably being best afield in the win over the Mariners, Daniel Arzani couldn’t find the same rhythm to his game on this afternoon and cut an increasingly frustrated figure, too.
But with Sunday’s clash representing the third game that Aurelio Vidmar’s side has played in the last eight days, perhaps this was to be suspected. And with those three fixtures producing nine points, it’s doubtful that there will be too much consternation at Casey Fields over this in the days to come. This was a solid performance, one in which they came in against an opponent riding a three-game winning run of their own and playing for their finals lives and held them without a shot.
City will also take the positives of another strong performance from fullback duo Behich, another World Cup coming into increasing focus for the veteran, and Nathaniel Atkinson. The pair were continued standouts even when the side was struggling to do much in the way of anything, carrying significant responsibility to help their side progress up the pitch, and will inevitably play more roles in whatever success their side can source in the weeks ahead. Behich’s three goals now represent the equal second-most he’s ever scored in a single league season, trailing only his 2017/18 campaign with Bursaspor in Turkey, when he scored five.
Kuen continues to quietly serve as one of the league’s more dangerous attacking outlets; his thinning hair, pained running style, and presence in a squad with much larger personalities perhaps obfuscating that his vision, nous, and passing touch are some of the finest in the competition. The Austrian almost added a third in the 87th minute when he snuck in behind and was played in on goal, only for his deft outside the boot effort beyond a charging Oluwayemi to roll teasingly wide.
Lastly, while they didn’t end up playing much role in the final result, Vidmar will also be boosted by the return of Socceroo goalkeeper Patrick Beach, who ultimately didn’t need to make a save, and Socceroo attacker Mat Leckie – who made his return from hip surgery and logged his first minutes since last Halloween when he was introduced as a 83rd-minute substitute.
JDL Media is committed to keeping its reporting on Australian football away from paywalls.
If you’re in a position to, please consider supporting this coverage at Ko-Fi.
So while it wasn’t a classic 2-0 win, it was an important one for City. Their season looking like it was slipping away from them a month ago, but City are now unbeaten in four league games and looking well on their way towards securing a playoff place. After seeing off fellow playoff aspirants Central Coast and Wellington in back-to-back games, Macarthur now loom as the only likely threat to their place in the top six with two games to go.
They now sit on 35 points, four clear of the Bulls ahead of their trip to face Perth Glory later on Sunday evening, five clear of the Phoenix and six ahead of the Mariners. Wins in either of their next two fixtures – away to Brisbane next Saturday and then at home to Adelaide to conclude the season – will render it impossible for the latter two foes to catch them, as it will be for Macarthur if they fall to defeat against the Glory out West.
While Adelaide possesses the league’s longest unbeaten run – now standing at eight games after their draw with table-toppers Newcastle on Saturday evening – no side has won more of their last five games than the defending champions.