It was domination from start to finish for Melbourne City as they triumphed over strugglers Western Sydney Wanderers 2-1 in the two side’s first meeting of 2014-15.
It was a midfield mastery on show as Aaron Mooy and Jacob Melling both starred in the centre of the park, adding a goal a piece to cancel out Yojiro Takahagi debut strike for the Wanderers.
With 19 goals falling in the three A-League games to date, the AAMI Park crowd would be forgiven for believing that another goal fest was heading their way, given the fast start from both sides.
Winger Nikita Rukavytsya lays a strong claim for fastest player in the A-League and it was his blistering speed off the mark that almost saw him break free of Ben Garrucio early, but the fullback managed to recover in the nick of time.
New boy Takahagi made a fast start of his own, as he opened the scoring for the Wanderers on five minutes with a far post free-kick, which evaded everyone and left a bemused Andrew Redmayne diving at thin air.
A stunned City outfit went immediately on the front foot through marquee Robi Koren, who broke the lines before cutting back to Irishman Damien Duff, who saw his shot blocked form the edge of the area.
His next effort managed to forced a save at former Socceroo Ante Covic, as he took a pin-point Mooy cross in his stride before unleashing into the near post from the angle.
Mooy’s movement and vision was at his impeccable best in the first half, and his midfield partner Melling reaped the rewards from his hard work in the 24th minute.
The in form City man found a pocket of space on the byline, inside the Wanderers box, playing a delicate chip back inside, which was dispatched with the head by Melling for his first ever A-League goal.
The hosts continued their dominance, fashioning a number of clear chances through Koren, but the makeshift striker failed to rattle the net despite two opportunities from point-blank range.
The Wanderers were on the ropes, with every delivery into the area looking a real threat for the Melbourne side, despite missing new signing Josh Kennedy for the clash.
Connor Chapman came incredibly close with his glancing header from Duff’s flighted cross, leaving Covic planted as the ball fizzed past the left post.
Duff continued to taunt the Western Sydney defence, this time delivering low to Iain Ramsay, who inexplicably skied a shot from around the penalty spot.
Despite the constant barrage of pressure, the Wanderers managed to hold on until the half-time break, but it didn’t let up in the slightest at the restart.
The first two minutes saw a number of chances fall City’s way, with Ramsay coming closest with a stinging drive from outside the area which was unconvincingly cleared away off the head of Takahagi.
Mooy had the boisterous crowd on their feet after his magnificent build up play saw him hit a first time back heel to the rushing Ramsay, but the winger – whose confidence has been shot by a number of sub-par performances this season – horribly miscued his strike under little pressure.
City came much closer to the elusive game breaker, as only the clever defending of debutant Yusuke Tanaka stopped Koren from hammering home City’s second, as the Slovenian international watched his vicious left-footed strike cleared off the line by a diving header.
Rukavytsya had a rare foray forward for the Wanderers, but he was well stopped by Redmayne, who dived low across the face to smother the Socceroos shot.
The impressive Duff made way for David Williams as John van ‘t Schip injected pace in search for a second goal.
The sub should have paid off immediately as the tricky forward weaved to the by-line, smashing a cross along the ground to the far post, where an open Ramsay somehow failed to trouble the scorers, despite it being harder to miss.
But it mattered little as a moment of Mooy magic conjured up a thunderous applause from the AAMI Park cauldron.
73′ | GOAL @MelbourneCity. @AaronMooy shows his teammates how its done with a masterful finish past Covic. All class Azza. 2-1 #MCYvWSW
— Melbourne City FC (@MelbourneCity) February 1, 2015
The midfielder – who was arguably the stiffest omission from Ange Postecoglou’s Asian Cup squad – pivoted on the edge of the area and hit a precision strike with the perfect blend of curl and pace, beating Covic and sending the support into raptures.
Despite some nervy moments late on, City held on for a valuable win in their search for finals football, and they were fantastic value for the three points.
***
Melbourne City 2 (Melling 24’, Mooy 73’) defeated Western Sydney Wanderers 1 (Takahagi 5’) at AAMI Park
Melbourne City: 1. Andrew REDMAYNE (GK), 17. Jason HOFFMAN, 4. Connor CHAPMAN, 24. Paddy KISNORBO (c), 19. Ben GARUCCIO (22. Jack CLISBY 35’), 25. Jacob MELLING, 5. Erik PAARTALU, 6. Aaron MOOY, 11. Damien DUFF (15. David WILLIAMS), 10. Robi KOREN, 7. Iain RAMSAY (8. Mass MURDOCCA 81’)
Unused Substitutes: 40. Marko STEVANJA (GK), 29. Safuwan BAHARUDIN
Yellow Card(s): Nil
Red Card(s): Nil
Western Sydney Wanderers: 1. Ante COVIC (GK), 3. Yusuke TANAKA, 4. Nikolai TOPOR-STANLEY (c), 5. Brendan HAMILL, 8. Mateo POLJAK, 10. Yojiro TAKAHAGI (16. Jaushua SOTIRIO 76’), 11. Brendon SANTALAB (7. Labinot HALITI 76’), 12. Nikita RUKAVYTSYA, 19. Mark BRIDGE, 25. Sam GALLAWAY, 33. Nick KALMAR (15. Yianni PERTAKIS 62’)
Unused Substitutes: 20. Dean BOUZANIS (GK), 2. Shannon COLE
Yellow Card(s): Nil
Red Card(s): Nil