Roar Guru
It was very close at the end but Sydney FC have held on to beat Melbourne City at AAMI Park.
Both sides really went at this but City unable to penetrate the Sydney back four.
They keep the pressure on Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth at the top of the table while City go back to the drawing board.
Great entertaining game for fans only marred by a second yellow to Dimi in injury time. Sydney will be without him for next week’s derby versus the Wanderers.
FINAL SCORE:
Sydney FC 2
Melbourne City 1
Melbourne City will be looking to atone for the last-minute defensive lapses that cost them three points against the Mariners last week but they’ll face a fierce Sydney FC, who after six games are undefeated and full of self-belief. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 7:30pm (AEDT).
These two sides played out an enthralling draw in Sydney in the first round of season and after seeing his side let a 2-nil lead slip, John van’t Schip will expect a much improved performance.
Thus far City has failed to live up to the preseason hype, recording only one win this season.
On paper, Melbourne City are a much better side than their sixth position on the table suggests. Their front line of Mate Dugandzic, David Williams and Damien Duff is one of the most dangerous in the A-League, and with Aaron Mooy – who returns from international duty – pulling the strings in the midfield, and Erik Paartalu on clean-up duty, they aren’t short on quality.
While he is no David Villa, Liam Miller’s signing as an injury replacement will further bolster City’s midfield.
They face a Sydney side experiencing their best start to a season since they won the league in 2010.
Graham Arnold has the Sky Blues buzzing and the news that marquee Mark Janko shunning a friendly against Brazil in order to be fully fit shows the competition for places is fierce. It’s expected Terry Antonis, back from international duty, will slot back alongside Milos Dimitrijevic, a partnership that is arguably the most dynamic in the league this season.
Arnold will be expecting more from youngsters Bernie Ibini-Isei and Chris Naumoff given in-form striker Corey Gamerio suffered a season-ending knee injury while on duty with the Olyroos in China.
With four clean sheets in the last five games, Sydney are well placed to continue their undefeated start to the season but won’t have it all their way against a Melbourne City side who will use last weekend’s result as motivation.
Join The Roar tonight at 7:30pm (AEDT) for live score updates and debate in our live blog.