Melbourne City have played out a second straight National Youth League goal-fest, this time ending on the right side of the ledger, triumphing 4-3 over Brisbane Roar at CB Smith Reserve.
Wade Dekker starred with a hat-trick for the hosts, with Hernan Espindola tapping home in between, while Brisbane had an unfortunate Tomislav Fadljevic own goal and double from Nick D’Agostino to thank for staying in the contest.
An enthralling opening 45 saw chances flow with the same ease as last week’s mammoth 4-5 Melbourne Derby loss to the Victory.
It was City who had their opponents measure in the early stages however, with Stefan Zinni enjoying plenty of possession on the left wing throughout the opening 20 minutes and it was his work that helped break the deadlock on three minutes.
Squared up on the left wing, the tricky wide man dropped the shoulder and took a touch to open the space on his left foot, where a low cross was converged on by both Espindola and Dekker, with the latter ghosting in from the penalty spot to convert at the near post.
Dekker began another tidy passage of football, with the crafty forward coming deep to collect the ball on the half way line, where he turned on a sixpence, nutmegged his marker and played a ball down the line to Zinni.
The winger in turn found Dekker with the return ball – a classy effort with the outside of the boot finding him – but the strikers touch evaded him at the crucial moment, as Brisbane keeper Tomislav Bilic rushed out to claim off his boots.
Steve Kuzmanovski threw in his trusty step-over on his way to the byline, where he struck a powerful effort into the side netting.
Ali Eyigun was another to impress early on, with the skipper controlling the tempo through the middle of the park and creating a number of openings, hitting a volleyed cross on the 18 minute mark that Dekker couldn’t steer home.
The counter attack proved City’s downfall however, as the Roar broke free on the left wing; the ball eventually fired into D’agostino who turned and finished for a classy equaliser.
Brisbane forward Harrison Sawyer forced a strong one-on-one save from Tando Velaphi, having earlier telegraphed a pass from Kuzmanovski to Fadljevic on the left attacking wing,t before bolting free of his marker.
D’Agostino narrowly missed his chance to put Brisbane into the lead as he skewed a first-time shot from the edge of the box following Shannon Brady’s blocked cross.
The visitors eventually got their break through on 38 minutes, as a calamitous mix up between Velaphi and Fadljevic saw the centre-half bundle home a Shannon Brady cross at his near post.
City’s equaliser came just three minutes later; the result of a lovely weighted ball from Dekker to find Zinni, who grabbed another assist with a cutback for Espindola to finish.
The entertainment didn’t stop with the half-time break, as both sides continued to push for goals after the restart.
Dekker had a second within two minutes of the team’s return to the pitch, clinically latching onto another Zinni cross to steer home his side’s third.
The lead didn’t last long however as D’Agostino grabbed his second on 50 minutes, wrong footing Velaphi with his deflected strike from outside the penalty area.
Luke Gallo was introduced just beyond the hour mark, and he made his presence known almost immediately, strongly involved in what was the pick of the goals on 62 minutes.
The speedster broke clear on the right wing before cutting the ball back to Espindola on the edge of the penalty area, who clipped a first time ball across his body to meet the run of Dekker, who curled the ball across the face of goal for his hat-trick.
Fouls, substitutions and injuries derailed the momentum that had built over the 60 minutes of football prior as the game fizzed out in its latter stages.
There was a goal-line clearance at either end, Jordy Hall denied his header by Brisbane’s Tom Miller, while D’Agonstino saw his powerful shot cleared off the line by Matt Millar to deny him his hat-trick.
Espindola came close to sealing the contest at the death, his sliding cross narrowly evaded the bottom right corner of the net in the 89th minute.
City successfully navigated five minutes of extra-time on their way to their second win of the season.
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Melbourne City 4 (Dekker 3’ 47’ 62’, Espindola 41’) defeated Brisbane Roar 3 (D’Agostino 19’ 50’, Fadljevic OG 38’) at CB Smith Reserve [HT: 2-2]
Melbourne City: 40. Tando VELAPHI (GK), 37. Leo ATHANASIOU, 39. Ali EYIGUN (c, 6. Denis GENREAU), 43. Tomislav FADLJEVIC, 44. Jordan HALL, 48. Steve KUZMANOVSKI (38. Luke GALLO 60’), 36. Matt MILLAR, 35. Phil PETRESKI, 34. Stefan ZINNI (45. Andy KECOJEVIC), 47. Wade DEKKER, 46. Hernan ESPINDOLA
Unused substitute(s): 42. Jack WEST-ASTUTI (GK)
Yellow Card(s): Nil
Red Card(s): Nil
Brisbane Roar: 1. Tomislav BILIC (GK), 17. Shannon BRADY, 3. Cameron CRESTANI, 9. Nicholas D’AGOSTINO, 13. Mitch HORE (c, 8. Tom MILLER 71’), 7. Dane INGHAM, 5. Tom JARRAD, 4. Mark RODIC, 10. Adam SAWYER, 18. Harrison SAWYER, 2. Jaiden WALKER
Unused substitute(s): 20. Finn MATHESON (GK), 12. Joseph CHAMPNESS, 11. Jayden PRASAD
Yellow Card(s): D’agostino 67’
Red Card(s): Nil