Melbourne City and Sydney FC have drawn 2-2 in a breathless end-to-end contest at AAMI Park in front of 10,140 people on Saturday.
Both teams put on an excellent attacking display, with Sydney in particular left to rue missed opportunities as the sides were made to share the spoils in a free-flowing, entertaining duel.
The opening stanza was dominated by the away side, but it was Melbourne City who went into the sheds with the advantage.
After a somewhat poor display throughout the opening 45, English veteran Aaron Hughes made his presence felt at a 37th-minute corner, nodding Harry Novillo’s delivery across his body to leave Vedran Janjetovic with no chance.
Andrew Hoole and George Blackwood were presented with an abundance of opportunity, though neither player could make those chances count. Hoole came closest in the 29th minute when his shot from close-range forced Sorensen to make himself big.
The Sky Blues had a shout for a penalty waved away when Jacob Melling strongly tackled Blackwood. Referee Strebe Delovski had a perfect view of the situation and emphatically called for play to continue.
After a profligate first half, Sydney came out with a point to prove in the second and it took them just nine minutes to equalise. Brandon O’Neill stripped Michael Zullo of possession in midfield, played an early ball to Filip Holosko who delivered to Ninkovic. He accepted the invitation, coolly finishing with a deft touch.
But just five minutes later, Sydney trailed again. A superb Novillo run and cross from the right-hand side found Bruno Fornaroli, who leapt high to secure his 11th goal of the season with a precise header.
City marquee Robi Koren had the chance to make things even more difficult more Sydney but he squandered his guilt-edged one-on-one opportunity. First half substitute Michael Zullo also came close, finding the side netting after Rhyan Grant handed over possession in a dangerous position.
Those misses proved costly. With 10 minutes remaining, Ninkovic secured his brace after Alex Gersbach’s cross was looped back across goal by Holosko. City goalscorer Hughes was not without fault in the build-up, appearing flat-footed.
Janjetovic spared a point late on for Sydney. Novillo wriggled his way through to bring out the best in the gloveman as the 90-minute mark approached.
In the absolute dying embers, it was Sorensen’s turn to bail out his team. He kept out Chris Naumoff before Shane Smeltz skied the seemingly unmissable.
The ledger ended square, as did either team’s points tally, with City and Sydney sharing 21 points.
Poor finishing is poor football
Though they came away with a point, this fixture could have produced more for Sydney. They dominated the attacking play from the get-go but wasted chance after chance.
Hoole and Blackwood in particular were guilty of wasting much of the opportunity, and the stats told their own story as to Sydney’s dominance. They enjoyed 10 more shots on goal then their hosts (19 versus nine) and 29 crosses versus 16.
The teams are now level on points in the standings, but the Sky Blues could have gone home a happier bunch with all three points against an in-form opponent.
City had chances of their own in the second half too. They twice could have sealed the game through Novillo and Zullo but could not close it out, with costly ramifications.
In spite of all that, this fixture could have continued beyond the referee’s whistle with plenty of entertainment in its latter stages.
Battle of understrength sides
Injury and suspension forced both teams into changes, with respective mangers John van’t Schip and Graham Arnold calling on their youth stocks.
For Melbourne City, four changes were forced. Ivan Franjic (corked quad), Erik Paartalu (general soreness) and perhaps most importantly, Aaron Mooy (general soreness), were all sidelined with knocks, while Paulo Retre was out with suspension.
City’s Dutch coach drafted in young duo Matthew Millar and Mahmut Ali Eyigun, an A-League debutant, as well as the experienced head of Koren.
Meanwhile, Arnold put his faith in 18-year-old striker Blackwood with Matt Simon suspended and Alex Brosque injured, and in favour of Smeltz.
While the City trio underwhelmed, Blackwood was the most influential of the lot, though he was not able to find the back of the net despite being provided with no shortage of service. Nevertheless, his selection ahead of Smeltz speaks volumes of his promise.
Sydney pepper the left
The selection of one of the aforementioned youngsters, Millar, at right-back, was clearly identified as a chink in City’s armour by Arnold.
Sydney constantly looked to that flank for an outlet, with ex-Jet Hoole and to a lesser extent Gersbach creating plenty. Blackwood was the main beneficiary, though Hoole himself did have plenty of sights at goal himself, all of which he was guilty of wasting when he should have done far better.
Ironically, Sydney’s two goals were created down the right-hand side as marquee men Holosko and Ninkovic linked up to slot home in the first instance, with the same tag-team responsible for the second. However, it was Gersbach’s delivery that was headed back across the goal face by the Slovakian.
Outside90 Player of the Year votes
3 – Milos Ninkovic
2 – Harry Novillo
1 – Andrew Hoole
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