Melbourne City recorded a late come-from-behind 3-1 win against a 10-man Brisbane Roar at AAMI Park on Friday evening.
After Dimitri Petratos put Brisbane ahead, defensive naiveté cost John Aloisi’s side as Jack Hingert was given his second yellow card for the match after a clumsy challenge on Bruno Fornaroli inside the penalty area.
Aaron Mooy equalised from the spot, before substitute Anthony Caceres headed City into the lead and Nick Fitzgerald adding a third to seal the win with six minutes to play.
It was a game shaping up to be a real box-to-box battle, made all the more straightforward following Hingert’s red card allowing City to take full control.
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Formations
Rarely are there no changes to both sides coming into an A-League game, but neither coach wanted to tinker with a winning formula.
Both managers relied on a tried and trusted 4-3-3.
The big news pre-match was the confirmation that Brisbane’s new recruit, Tommy Oar, would need to wait another week at least for a starting berth as he was named amongst the substitutes.
Early patterns
In the opening stages, City’s defensive shape was far too conservative and allowed the visitors to gain momentum in the attacking third.
While Petratos’s opening goal did not come about as a direct result of this, it did come about after a poor mistake from the usually reliable Thomas Sorensen in City’s goal. His feeble attempt at keeping out Corona’s speculative shot from 35-yards allowed the initial corner, and was flat-footed when the Roar attacker took his strike deceivingly early. So this phase was less tactical pattern, more coach killer.
After the concession of the opening goal, City’s hand was forced. Ivan Franjic and Ben Garuccio made a concerted effort to push up the pitch to quell the influence of Brisbane wide-men, Petratos and Thomas Broich. Once City were able to begin attacks from more advanced positions, space opened up in certain instances and the hosts looked a far more potent threat. However, Brisbane remained resolute, defending deeply, but effectively, to go into the break with a lead intact.
Numerical advantage swings pendulum City’s way
Van’t Schip’s side simply had much less problems to contend with following Jack Hingert’s sending off. While it was a surprise that the Dutchman did not sacrifice holding midfielder Osama Malik when City had levelled with a one-man advantage, Mooy and Novillo in particular wore down the Roar defence to create chances almost at will.
Caceres inspires City
The telling switch came in the 74th minute, when Michael Zullo, who had played well up to that point, was substituted in place of Anthony Caceres. This created an overload in the midfield area for the hosts, throwing the marking system of Matt McKay and Corona completely out of whack.
With fresh legs intact, the Manchester City loanee, who is not known for a goal threat, made a late run into the area to meet Ivan Franjic’s excellent cross. With Brisbane’s midfield overworked with problems ahead of them, and the defence with Novillo and Fitzgerald occupying the inside left and right channels respectively – there was too much to contend with. Caceres stands at a mere 173cm tall, but used every inch of his frame to head City into a winning position.
Melbourne City conclusion
The result will overshadow any deficiencies but before Fornaroli’s moment of brilliance in beating Hingert, a potential hammer-blow for City’s premiers plate ambitions loomed. A loss here would have derailed any serious hopes of finishing top, but the Uruguayan’s guile came up trumps again, leaving Brisbane’s defenders in his wake.
Tactically, van’t Schip’s decisions were superb after half time.
Malik played out the 90 minutes quite surprisingly, but upon reflection, the midfielder’s presence denied Brisbane any sort of fluency in transition. Counter attacking was Brisbane’s only real threat after going a man down, and Malik’s efficiency in possession in deep areas (percentage of passing) helped City to begin a number of dangerous attacks. Another perk of keeping the new arrival on the pitch was that he was basically given a free reign with Brisbane attending to more pressing issues in advanced areas.
Brisbane Roar conclusion
Aloisi’s men made it as hard as they could after Hingert’s sending off, and despite the eventual 3-1 loss which was comprehensive, the visitors were impressive for much of the contest in repelling City’s advances and creating openings when going forward.
The coach did not use this as an excuse in his post match interview, when asked about the circumstance which saw Oar wait, ready on the sidelines to be substituted. The former FC Utrecht winger was set to shore up Brisbane’s left, which Ivan Franjic had begun to control unchecked with City in full control. The score remained at 1-1, and after a brief stop in play for a throw-in, Aloisi and his assistants gestured towards the referee to allow Oar to be introduced to the contest. The referee must not have noticed, and allowed play to continue with Oar waiting patiently on the sidelines. Within three minutes, City went ahead 3-1, with the go-ahead goal from Caceres being created from Franjic’s cross on the right-side. Had the sub been allowed, the result could have been different, but as it was, City were worthy winners.
With Brisbane having now found consistency in effort and overall output, this side now looks far better equipped to seriously challenge for silverware than it did throughout February. Oar’s integration in the squad will give the forward line another dimension, and another route to attack on the left than Broich, who has been crowded out at times throughout this season.
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