Melbourne City have suffered defeat in their first ever competitive fixture, losing 3-1 to Sydney FC in their round of 32 FFA Cup clash on Tuesday night.
Sydney were able to do it on a cold Tuesday night in Morsehead Park, with Corey Gameiro opening the scoring, while two Ali Abbas penalties in extra time cancelled out Nick Kalmar’s second half equaliser.
In a contest showing all the signs of a rusty pre-season friendly, both sides – showcasing a host of new faces – were content with feeling each other out early.
With Sydney trying to play out from the back, City pressed high, often forcing the visitors to unwillingly play direct.
It almost paid off, as the Sky Blues fashioned the first shot on target when a Sasha Ognenovski long ball found Gameiro on the left wing, but his strike was easily held by Andrew Redmayne.
Melbourne City were ahead on possession, but it counted for little as Gameiro struck on the counter in the 23rd minute, trickling a ball home from distance after Redmayne inexplicably charged off his line in a failed Manuel Neuer impression.
In trying to force the equaliser, City made a number of forays forward, crossing the ball into Sydney’s box, though most were easily dealt with by the towering duo of Saša Ognenovski and Nikola Petković.
Neither side was able to create any more meaningful chances in the first half, although Gameiro had a late half chance when he flashed a shot across the face of goal.
City came out after the break slightly brighter, with Mate Dugandzic and Williams both spurning chances wide.
The hosts eventually did find an equaliser through an unmarked Nick Kalmar, who headed home a curling Aaron Mooy set-piece.
Sydney looked intent on wrestling back the advantage, fashioning a number of chances towards the latter part of the half.
Gameiro was again menacing, almost scoring from a Petkovic set-piece that was not dealt with by Redmayne.
Another effort was scuffed by Kisnorbo, with the ball hitting the post on the ricochet – the shaky moment indicative of his and Rob Wielaert’s tendencies to get caught flat footed.
With time running out, City’s custodian made up for his earlier errors by plucking the ball from the feet of an advancing Gameiro who was played through on goal.
Ali Abbas had the final chance to seal the contest in regular time, but his stinging volley fell into the hands of a relieved Redmayne.
Despite Sydney creating the better chances throughout the 90 minutes, City went inches away from taking the lead in extra-time, when Mooy’s raking shot from distance struck the crossbar.
The match was to be decided by penalties, albeit not via a shootout.
Hoffman and Garrucio both conceded spot kicks in the second period of extra-time, with the former sent off for his indiscretion.
Ali Abbas stepped up on both occasions, converting twice and propelling Sydney into the next round.
Melbourne City FC 1 (Kalmar 64’) defeated by Sydney FC 3 (Gameiro 23’, Abbas (p) 111′, (p) 115′) at Morshead Park [HT 0:1]