Revenge is a dish best served cold, and it panned out just that way for Melbourne City as they buried the demons of a 5-2 demolition to defeat rivals Melbourne Victory 1-0 in dramatic fashion.
With time running out in a scrappy affair, City midfielder Erik Paartalu lept highest to nod home an injury time winner to nab a second straight 1-0 win, and consign Victory to their first loss of the season.
The less fancied City dominated proceedings early due to Victory’s generosity in possession but for all their pressing and work keeping the ball, they fashioned very few clear-cut chances.
Their one notable opportunity came through Iain Ramsay, who was found at the far stick by Jason Hoffman, but the winger-cum-fullback-cum-winger couldn’t steer his effort on target.
Set-pieces threatened to undo the Victory backline but midfielder Aaron Mooy was unusually wasteful with the dead ball.
Fahid Ben Khalfallah on the other hand was proving a nuisance over his sides free-kick’s in the absence of Gui Finkler, and he tested ex-Victory keeper Tando Velaphi with a low shot from his set-piece.
He very nearly sparked the opener again after displaying magnificent technique and poise to hit a perfect cross on the volley, which eventually found its way to Archie Thompson, who struck over the bar from just outside the six-yard-box.
Jacob Melling also showed off his technique with a sweetly hit first time roller, which worked its way through a forest of legs on its way into the arms of Nathan Coe.
But it was Victory who had the last opportunity of the half as Berisha found half a yard inside the box to fire an expert volley into the diving arms of Velaphi.
Both sides began the second term in nervy fashion, desperately trying to clinch a foothold in the contest, which seemed a worldly task at times.
An errant elbow from Melling on Leigh Broxham saw both parties converge, with the contest on the verge of boiling over.
The simultaneous introduction of midfield maestros Gui Finkler and Robi Koren – both returning from injury – seemed to come at just the right time, with the former marking his first touch of the contest with a defence splitting pass, which was well dealt with by the City defence.
A goalmouth scramble in City’s attacking half was indicative of the scrappy nature of the goal shy contest, which took 74 minutes to spark into life.
Ben Khalfallah wheeled away in celebration after tapping into an empty net, but the festivities were cut short by the officials who spotted am offside in the build-up.
City skipper Paddy Kisnorbo somewhat surprisingly proved the greatest threat for City in the latter stages of the contests, powering a pair of headers goal bound, with his second effort thwarted by the brilliance of Coe.
The keeper was there again to make a sublime stop off a Mooy rocket, but there was little he could do a minute later, as Paartalu – who’d done little up until that point – popped up to nod home from a corner kick to send the City fans into dreamland.
It was a deserved win in the end for City – who jump up to sixth on the A-League ladder – but a harsh one in nature for the previously undefeated Victory.
Melbourne City 1 (Paartalu 90′) def Melbourne Victory 0 at AAMI Park
Melbourne City: 20.Tando Velaphi (GK), 4.Connor Chapman, 5.Erik Paartalu, 6.Aaron Mooy, 15. David Williams (21. Stefan Mauk 89’), 7. Iain Ramsay (14. James Brown 70’), 17.Jason Hoffman, 19.Ben Garuccio, 23.Mate Dugandzic, 24.Patrick Kisnorbo (c), 25.Jacob Melling (10. Robi Koren 61’)
Unused Substitutes: 1. Andrew Redmayne (GK), 2. Rob Wielaert
Yellow Cards: Hoffman 26’, Melling 55’, Ramsay 65’
Red Cards: Nil
Melbourne Victory: 1. Nathan Coe (GK), 2. Jason Geria, 4. Nick Ansell, 6. Leigh Broxham (c), 8. Besart Berisha, 9. Kosta Barbarouses, 10. Archie Thompson (7. Gui Finkler 61’), 14. Fahid Ben Khalfallah (11. Connor Pain 82’), 18. Dylan Murnane, 21. Carl Valeri (16. Rashid Mahazi 70’), 23. Adrian Leijer
Unused Substitutes: 20. Lawrence Thomas, 22. Jesse Makarounas
Yellow Cards: Khalfallah 55’
Red Cards: Nil