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Opinion
Back on February 20th, I wrote a piece which suggested Melbourne City might not be quite as polished a football team as many of the so-called experts might think.
Now, after a 1-1 draw with a confident and dangerous Sydney FC last Friday, the other men in sky blue will host the return leg at AAMI Park this Friday evening, with plenty of work to do to secure a spot in the Grand Final.
My original doubts were born of a few stumbles early in the season against Sydney and the Victory specifically, and the supposed gap between what is obviously a quality City team and those chasing. Since that time, my reservations around City should have be obliterated if an analysis of the numbers was considered alone.
Since the publication of my article in late February, City’s form reads as follows: six wins, four draws and just the one loss, to Adelaide United on the road. Jamie Maclaren, Marco Tilio and co. have been rampant at times, netting on 23 occasions in those 11 matches and City have not been held scoreless since January 21 when Brisbane did superbly to grind out a 0-0 draw.
However, we all know that football is always about far more than the numbers and the cracks exposed by Sydney FC in the first leg of the semi-final would have some City fans a little nervous.
With a Premiers Plate locked away, and what has appeared all season as a championship there for the taking, it is now potentially going to require City to produce better football than what they managed against Steve Corica’s men the first time out.
The Sky Blues may have been a little lucky with the penalty re-take that saw Adam Le Fondre score the equalising goal, however after a proactive first-half from the visitors, Sydney grew into the game and created a host of other chances that could easily have given them a lead heading into the second leg.
In fact, Corica’s team had the ball in the back of the net a few times, with Robert Mak drifting offside and denying Le Fondre a first-half goal and Rhyan Grant suffering the same disappointment after seemingly putting the home side up 2-1 during a bubbling second half.
There were plenty of shots and seven on target, with City often forced to scramble and the Sydney front line looking as dangerous as it has all season. Despite a lion’s share of possession, it was Sydney that looked most likely with explosive and brisk attacks and a few foreheads would have been wiped to a collective ‘phew’ in the post-game.
What remains, is for Melbourne to avoid the disaster of the loss to Western United in last season’s Grand Final.
Dylan Wenzel-Halls of Western United celebrates victory with teammates. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
I love these situations in sport, where a quality team faces destiny, holds their own fate in their hands and are required to produce what is necessary on the day without any tomorrow existing.
It will be Sydney FC’s job to push them to the brink, place them in front of the mirror to face their maker and demand they prove that another crack at the championship is deserved. It should be frightfully good to watch.
The boycotting City fans will present a rather sad sight. APL boss Danny Townsend will be nervously squirming in his seat, hoping that his former club can manage the upset and prevent egg landing on the faces of those who sold off the grand final and Melbourne City will know that there is simply no room for error.
Even a win will not be enough to exorcise the demons of the Western United loss 12 months ago, with either a dangerous Adelaide United team or the explosive Mariners awaiting them in the decider should they deal with Sydney successfully.
There is no doubt Melbourne City are the cream of the crop based on the numbers, just as they were in 2021-22 and have been for some time. However, if the current A-League season has taught us anything, it is that nothing is assured and finals can be decided by one fortunate or unfortunate moment.
I feel for the City fans as it will be stressful, yet I’ll be grinning from ear to ear, watching a champion team challenged and needing to prove their worth.