Melbourne City’s NYL side have emulated the efforts of their senior counterparts, claiming the youth derby 2-1 over Victory at CB Smith Reserve.
An early opener from Chris Cristaldo was cancelled out in the second half by Joey Katebian, who scored his ninth goal of the season.
Nick Gonzalez then popped up late to score a late winner, helping City make amends for their loss to Victory earlier in the NYL season.
It took the hosts just seven minutes to find the back of the net, with Cristaldo springing the offside trap and guiding a shot past Lawrence Thomas.
City continued to maintain momentum thereafter, with Kuzmanovski the next player to take an effort on goal that missed high of the target.
Phil Petreski forced Thomas into a diving save from a free kick, as the side knocked on the door for a second goal.
Kuzmanovski then flashed a ball accross the face which Victory’s defenders failed to deal with, allowing Luke Gallo an opportunity that Thomas did well to save.
Victory started to find their feet in the latter part of the half, with the first shot on target coming when Kieran Dover floated a cross into the box that George Howard acrobatically volleyed at the keeper.
A flurry of chances followed as Katebian was played in over the top, with his cutback cleared back to him – he then found John Maclean in the box, whose shot was deflected for a corner.
Both Maclean and Howard had a chance each just before the break, with the latter unable to catch the keeper off his line with a long distance attempt, while the latter hit a powerful effort at the custodian.
Victory’s momentum paid dividends early in the second half as the visitors hit back immediately.
A cross from MacLean was controlled by Howard, who then found Duzel for a touch that played Katebian through on goal, and the striker made no mistake with the finish.
Kieran Dover then had a lively passage of play, first having a shot cleared off the line, before crossing in for Duzel to flash a header across the face.
Substitute Stefan Zinni almost restored City’s lead in the 70th minute, barging through congestion to make room for a shot that flew over the bar.
Katebian had a golden chance to propel Victory into the lead, latching onto Howard’s ball into the box but firing over.
Both sides continued to exchange opportunities as Jordon Hall was thrwarted from a corner, while another sweeping ball from Howard was flashed wide by Pierce Waring.
Cristaldo also had the chance to win it late for the hosts, played in by Zinni but blocked by Thomas.
Gonzalez made no mistake from a similar situation moments later, tapping home Zinni’s ball to seal the 2-1 result.
Melbourne City 1 (Cristaldo 7′ Gonzalez 87′) defeated Melbourne Victory 1 (Katebian 55′) at CB Smith Reserve
Melbourne Victory: 1. Lawrence Thomas (GK), 10. Kieran Dover, 8. Anthony Duzel, 4. Callum Goulding, 17. George Howard, 9. Joey Katebian, 11. John MacLean, 5. Damien Miskulin, 15. James Xydias, 6. Stefan Nigro, 18. Christian Cavallo
Subs: 13. Cameron McGilp, 1. Lucas Spinella (GK), 7. Pierce Waring
Melbourne City: 37. Leo Athanasiou, 46. Chris Cristaldo, 43. Tomislav Fadljevic, 38. Luke Gallo, 6. Denis Genreau, 36. Matt Millar, 44. Jordon Hall, 45. Andy Kecojevic, 48. Steve Kuzmanovski, 35. Phil Petreski, 42. Jack West-Astuti (GK)
Subs: 5. Austin Wong, 40. Yaren Sozer (GK), 34. Stefan Zinni, 47. Nicolas Gonzalez