An ominous Melbourne City fired a warning shot across the A-League with a convincing 5-1 demolition of fellow top-flight club Wellington Phoenix in the FFA cup last night.
New signings Bruno Fornaroli and Michael Zullo got their first competitive starts for the home side, with Fornaroli making an immediate impression by scoring the club’s third goal.
City were out of the blocks quickly, netting four of their five before halftime, while Roy Krishna’s strike for the Phoenix was their solitary bright spot on an otherwise dark day.
The only dampener for Melbourne City came through the early substitution of Harry Novillo in the 28th minute due to an apparent hamstring injury. Harry Novillo was extremely bright early, striking the crossbar before cutting inside and scoring past Phoenix goalkeeper Lewis Italiano.
Do not sleep on City
With a commanding performance this early in the campaign against a fellow top-flight outfit, Melbourne City has proved they are a threat in all competitions this year. The club has added talent to their roster, with new signings Fornaroli and Zullo both impressing last night and fellow arrivals Ivan Franjic and Aaron Hughes still to come into the side. Talented names such as David Williams, Corey Gameiro, James Brown and Ben Garuccio will still provide competition for starting XI spots. City fans would be quietly confident of overtaking big brother Melbourne Victory and finally breaking their silverware drought this coming season.
Goals, glorious goals
While most of City’s signings were aimed at addressing their defensive frailties, it was their attack that was razor sharp last night. Van’t Schip’s men looked a constant threat to the Phoenix goal, Novillo particularly was a constant threat before hurting his hamstring. Aaron Mooy and Robert Koren were creative in midfield, and both got themselves on the scoresheet. Mooy is continuing to prove he is one of the most destructive midfielders in Australia, and should benefit significantly from the new look attack. If the fluidity of the forwards from this result is anything to go by, City’s games this year will be highly entertaining affairs.
The FFA Cup is alive and well
Early cup ties in English football are renowned as an opportunity for managers to blood young talent and see what they can offer the first team. Often clubs do not take the fixtures seriously, preferring instead to focus on the league competition. This is not so in the FFA cup. Although Wellington were severely outclassed by an impressive Melbourne City side, they played an extremely competitive line-up, with the likes of Michael McGlinchey, Andrew Durante, Manny Muscat and Krishna all featuring in Ernie Merrick’s starting XI. Melbourne too played an almost full strength team, with just Aaron Hughes and Ivan Franjic missing from their likely starting setup.
This shows that both managers see the FFA cup not as something of a preseason competition, but instead a serious opportunity to achieve silverware. This is a positive for Australian football, as a strong cup competition will only add value to the A-League.
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The preseason is too long
While this, along with other FFA cup games last night proved highly entertaining affairs – crowds will be forced to wait until October for more regular football. While the schedule was originally planned so the A-League would not have to compete with the likes of the AFL and the NRL, football in Australia has grown significantly and should no longer base their season around other codes. Spectacles such as the City vs Phoenix clash will draw crowds no matter what, with over 4,000 fans cheering on their club last night despite the unfriendly nature of a Wednesday night fixture.
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