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Melbourne City will battle it out with Sydney FC for the first silverware of the season, as the two meet in the final of the third edition of the FFA Cup at AAMI Park, with kickoff scheduled for 7:30pm (AEDT).
No matter what happens, a new champion will be crowned as Sydney FC look to break a six-year trophy drought while City will be searching for their first silverware in their history.
Both sides bring some solid form to the table and are, in fact, sitting first and second on the A-League ladder after eight rounds.
This one has all the signs of an absolute classic.
Sydney FC have been absolutely rampant since day dot of the 2016/17 season.
Their journey to this cup final has been impressive. In getting to the big dance, they’ve scored 11 goals and are remarkably yet to concede. In the Round of 32, they came up against the Wollongong Wolves, who they dispatched with ease – 3-0 away at WIN Stadium.
The Round of 16 saw an all A-League clash against the Perth Glory, again away from home. Sydney were more than equal to the task, emerging victorious with a scoreline of 2-0.
Another dominating win, this time 3-0 over Blacktown City in the quarter-final, saw Sydney just one win away from the final. Canberra Olympic stood in their way, but it never looked in doubt as the boys from Sydney marched into a showdown for the trophy, emerging 3-0 victors.
Their opponents, Melbourne City, also looked fairly ominous on their road to the final.
The Round of 32 saw a trip to Floreat Athena FC, where City claimed a 2-1 victory and set up a Round of 16 clash with the NPL’s Brisbane Strikers. All eyes were on Tim Cahill’s return to Australia as City came from behind to beat the Strikers 2-1, care of a pair of Bruno Fornaroli penalties.
The quarter and semi-finals saw all A-League clashes with the Western Sydney Wanderers and crosstown rivals Melbourne Victory respectively. Both proved fairly straightforward challenges for City as they cruised into the final registering 4-1 and 2-0 victories in their quarter and semi respectively.
The two sides have never met in the FFA Cup nor have they clashed this A-League season, with their first A-League encounter scheduled for December 9.
However, in the past, they’ve fought out some tough contests, with City holding the wood over the Sky Blues in recent times. In the past five clashes between the two, City have won two and Sydney one. In fact, in their last meeting in March, the Melburnians trounced their harbour city opponents 3-0.
Further, neither side have competed in an FFA Cup final, so regardless of the victor, someone will hoist the trophy for the first time.
With sides of this calibre duelling it out in the final, we are privileged to see two of the more star-studded sides in the nation on show.
Tim Cahill
Socceroo Tim Cahill joined City at the beginning of this campaign, debuting against the Brisbane Strikers in the Round of 16, and is Australia’s highest ever international goalscorer.
He’s a man whose penchant for stunning goals could provide a highlight or two and his big game experience could prove key for City as he looks to be the first man to find a way through the Sydney defence this cup competition.
Milos Ninkovic
Milos Ninkovic has been a standout for Sydney FC in recent months. He’s started the current campaign on fire, he’s scored four goals and assisted three in just eight outings this season.
Prior to this season, it looked as if he would leave Sydney for a big Middle East payday but following his inability to engineer an exit, he’s turned into the Sky Blues’ most important player.
Watch for the midfielder’s tricks and his eye for a pass to split open the City defence.
Bruno Fornaroli
Bruno Fornaroli’s time in Australia has seen goal after goal after goal. The Uruguayan loves it down under and simply cannot stop scoring.
Just weeks ago he became the fastest man to 30 A-League goals in the history of the competition. He holds the record for the most A-League goals in a season – 23 in 2015-16 – as well as being the current A-League top scorer for 2016/17.
He will play a big role in the result of this cup final – more often than not, he scores.
Josh Brillante
Sydney FC’s midfield maestro returned from Europe this season after playing just 24 professional matches since leaving the Newcastle Jets for Fiorentina at the end of 2014. Two unsuccessful loan spells at Empoli and Como saw him arrive back on our shores in 2016.
He’s a midfielder with a strong ball-playing ability who will look to direct his side around from the middle of the park. He’s not big on goals though, having scored just once in his entire club career – two rounds ago against Brisbane Roar.
Brillante’s combination with roommate Brandon O’Neill in central midfield for Sydney could make or break them in this cup final.
John Van’t Schip
The Dutch coach has labelled this match the biggest in City’s history and will be looking to etch his name into the club’s folklore as the first boss to secure silverware.
He’s previously managed FC Twente and Guadalajara in Mexico as well as being an assistant coach for the Dutch national team. This is his second spell with City after previously managing them from 2009-2012 while they were known as Melbourne Heart.
He will look to set his side up to attack from wide with Bruce Kamau and Fernando Brandan looking to get in behind the fullbacks and feed main attacking tool and captain Bruno Fornaroli.
Concurrently, his side will need to monitor the strong Sydney attacking threat. Their defence has been noted as a potential weak spot this season.
Graham Arnold
‘Arnie,’ as he is affectionately known, has had Syndey firing on all cylinders this season. Following their runners-up finish in 2014/15, Arnold’s men failed to keep up the good work in 2015/16, finishing an embarrassing seventh.
He’ll be looking to guide the Sky Blues to their first trophy since their A-League title in 2009/10.
This season, his side have depended on quick forward moves through the likes of international trio Ninkovic, Bobo and Filip Holosko. The aforementioned midfield duo of Brillante and O’Neill will also prove key.
Sydney have been resolute at the back this season and will need to remain so with the likes of Fornaroli and Cahill in the City side. Michael Zullo, Alex Wilkinson, Rhyan Grant and Matt Jurman are likely to be the men handed the job in defence.
Probable starting line-ups
| Melbourne City | Sydney FC |
| Dean Bouzanis (GK) | Danny Vukovic (GK) |
| Ivan Franjic | Michael Zullo |
| Connor Chapman | Matthew Jurman |
| Michael Jakobsen | Alex Wilkinson |
| Manny Muscat | Rhyan Grant |
| Neil Kilkenny | Brandon O’Neill |
| Luke Brattan | Josh Brillante |
| Tim Cahill | Milos Ninkovic |
| Bruce Kamau | Alex Brosque (C) |
| Fernando Brandan | Filip Holosko |
| Bruno Fornaroli (C) | Bobo |
It’s a very hard pick, this one. Both sides have immense attacking threats thanks to the star power on show. However, I’m going to back the home side here purely because of the goalscoring touch of Fornaroli. He’s very hard to keep quiet and loves the big stage.
Expect an absolutely classic arm wrestle.
Melbourne City 2-1 Sydney FC
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