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Melbourne City vs Sydney FC Highlights: A-League scores, blog

24th February, 2017
Kickoff: 7:50pm (AEDT)
Venue: AAMI Park, Melbourne
Referee: Jarred Gillett
TV: Live on Fox Sports 4 (channel 505)
Betting: Melbourne $2.65, draw $3.50, Sydney $2.50

Melbourne City
1.Thomas SORENSEN (gk), 2.Manny MUSCAT, 3.Josh ROSE, 5.Ivan FRANJIC, 6.Osama MALIK, 8.Neil KILKENNY, 9.Nicolas COLAZO, 10.Anthony CACERES, 11.Bruce KAMAU, 12.Nick FITZGERALD, 17.Tim CAHILL, 18.Paulo RETRE, 21.Ruon TONGYIK, 23.Bruno FORNAROLI (c), 26.Luke BRATTAN, 27.Fernando BRANDAN, 34.Denis GENREAU, 40.Yaren SOZER

Sydney FC
1.Andrew REDMAYNE (gk), 4.Alex WILKINSON, 5.Jordy BUIJS, 6.Joshua BRILLANTE, 7.Michael ZULLO, 8.Milos DIMITRIJEVIC, 9.BOBÔ, 10.Milos NINKOVIC, 11.Bernie IBINI, 12.Aaron CALVER, 13.Brandon O'NEILL, 14.Alex BROSQUE (c), 17.David CARNEY, 18.Matt SIMON, 19.George BLACKWOOD, 20.Danny VUKOVIC (gk), 21.Filip HOLOSKO, 23.Rhyan GRANT
Melbourne City host Sydney FC in a top-of-the-table clash. (AAP Image/Julian Smith)
Editor
24th February, 2017
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Sydney FC may have had their historic undefeated run ended, but they’re still firmly in control at the top of the ladder as they take on a Melbourne City side looking to break free in the top four. Catch all the action from 7:50pm (AEDT) on The Roar.

After 14 wins, five draws and zero losses, Sydney FC were finally toppled last week to put an end to their chance at a record-breaking ‘invincible’ season.

A controversial 1-nil defeat to the Wanderers proved to the rest of the league that the Sky Blues are indeed penetrable, while Sydney will be looking to make sure it was only a one off.

Although not in the domestic league, Melbourne City are the only other side that has beaten Graham Arnold’s men this season, when they won the FFA Cup late last year to set themselves up as competition favourites.

Despite the loss last week, Sydney still sit eight points clear of Victory at the top of the table and a mammoth 17 points ahead of City, who are in third place with seven games remaining.

While the Sky Blues look set to take the minor premiership, minus a catastrophic collapse, Melbourne risk falling out of the finals altogether. They’re sneaking ahead of Brisbane Roar at the moment on goal difference, with Perth just two points further back in fifth place, and the Wanderers just six points behind, on the edge of the finals equation.

A loss today puts City just one game away from missing out on the finals altogether.

A 5-1 thrashing of Wellington last week put Michael Valankis’ side back on track after a three-game winless streak, but they’re right back in the fire for tonight’s fixture.

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However, City have home-ground advantage and are undefeated in their last five games against Sydney, with the Sky Blues winless against either Melbourne team in their last five games at AAMI Park.

Team news
Melbourne have kept the same side as last week, with the addition of two players to an extended matchday squad.

Ivan Franjic returns from a knee injury suffered in the Round 18 Melbourne Derby against Victory, while Bruce Kamau has been promoted into the side.

There were hopes during the week of an early return for Michael Jakobsen, but the Danish defender is will sit out a third week with a calf strain.

For Sydney, Aaron Calver and George Blackwood have been added to the side that went down last week, with two changes to be made for kickoff.

Prediction
This is a make or break game for Melbourne, but the pressure is on Sydney as well, looking to bounce back from the loss last week and keep the Victory at bay at the pointy end of the standings.

City haven’t had the best campaign in 2017, but Sydney’s recent record at this venue puts a lot of pressure on them. City could cause another upset here, but the two sides might be sharing the points.

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1-1 draw

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