The polarising difference between the two sides can be summed up in the gulf of class and understanding between two sets of players in the same roles for their teams: Aaron Mooy and Bruno Fornaroli for City, Roly Bonevacia and Hamish Watson for the Nix.
The insipid Phoenix, whose loss last week mathematically confirms their play-off exit, must face another daunting away trip to a rampaging Melbourne City outfit that has sauntered to second on the table. City are a team playing football of a quality rarely seen in the A-League before. After a slow start, they have proved to be a near unstoppable force, and the only time they came undone in recent weeks was on a windy Wellington afternoon. Since that surprise loss to the Nix in round 21, City have won three from three, scoring seven and conceding just one in the process.
Two of the front-runners for the Johnny Warren Medal this season are Mooy and Fornaroli. The devastating combination between the two City players has been nothing short of sensational. Capable of producing moments of pure quality, the duo is the talk of the 2015-16 A League season, and you can bet they will want to set the seal on a season to remember with a trophy.
Fornaroli has an astonishing 20 goals in 23 A-League games and 23 goals in 27 total appearances for City across league and cup competitions. His team mate’s campaign has been equally incredible, as Mooy has broken the league’s all-time assists records himself, currently sitting on 19 with 11 goals to boot. The 31 goals they have scored as a unit is just two shy of the 33 the Phoenix have managed to score all season, and they are both streets ahead of Wellington’s top scorer Blake Powell (eight goals).
For the Phoenix, Roly Bonevacia has been one of the standouts in an otherwise injury-hit and quality lacking Phoenix outfit. However, despite providing five assists and scoring six in 23 games, he has lacked the consistency of his City counterparts. With injuries and suspensions keeping players like Roy Krishna, Ben Sigmund and Andrew Durante sidelined, and the departure of marquee man Jeffrey Sarpong, Bonevacia has become the key man.
Playing every game bar one (through suspension) over two seasons for the Nix, the Dutchman is the heartbeat of the Black and Yellow. Unlike the dynamic duo of Mooy and Fornaroli however, the Dutchman has lacked a frontman he can really link with. The bulky and intelligent Hamish Watson has stepped into the role, but his style of play is the vigour to Fornaroli’s vim. He was summoned into the squad as injury cover but has impressed in his five games, scoring three and assisting three. Once again though, inconsistency has proven Watson’s downfall, as he try’s to earn a coveted Phoenix contract extension from Merrick. This was highlighted in the game against the Newcastle Jets in round 21. In the match, Watson scored a first half brace but his sending off in the second half coincided with his team’s capitulation, as the New Zealanders went down 3-2.
With the Phoenix’s demanding schedule this season causing a staggering number of injuries, the strike force has often suffered the sort of revolving door starting lineup that will always leave a team struggling. When you look back to that round 21 encounter for example, Merrick started youngsters Louis Fenton and Matthew Ridenton up front in the wide positions.
The lack of fluidity up front has hurt the New Zealand side this season, with midfielders and strikers missing in action so often the team was unable to gel. Unlike Fornaroli and Mooy of course, who started together week in, week out, with only a well-deserved Socceroos call-up separating Mooy from his City teammate.
With the Nix’s season over, pride is the mission, and Bonevacia and company’s thoughts will already have turned to next season. On the other side of the coin, top of the table City have it all to play for, and they will be looking to put in a performance worthy of potential premiership and championship winners on Monday night at AAMI Park.
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