Melbourne City made it five wins on the bounce as they claimed a 2-0 win against table-toppers Central Coast Mariners at AAMI Park on Monday night.
A five-star performance from Melbourne City was enough to see them topple Central Coast as they added to their spectacular run which has seen them record four consecutive clean sheets.
Jamie Maclaren was City’s go to man yet again as he got on the scoresheet for the 11th time this season and maintained his eye-catching record against the Mariners which has now seen him score eight goals in his last four appearances against them.
An injury in the opening 20 minutes paved the way for the introduction of Adrian Luna who almost had an instant impact as he entered the fray.
The first goal of the contest arrived just after the half hour mark via Maclaren as City dominated first half proceedings and were unlucky not to go two or three up if it were not for the fine form of Central Coast shot stopper, Mark Birighitti.
City’s assault on the visitors’ defence continued after the break and they eventually broke through to double their lead with Nathaniel Atkinson grabbing the second goal of his A-League career.
Patrick Kisnorbo’s side stayed resolute in defence and closed out the game in style as they go top alongside their opponents in the clean sheet department ahead of Friday’s visit of Western Sydney Wanderers.
Key Moments
Central Coast were met by a barrage of Melbourne City attacks to start to the match with Maclaren proving to be as deadly as ever.
A relentless City outfit did not ease the pressure off the Mariners’ defence who were given no time settle in and build any sort of rhythm throughout the opening stages.
An injury to Nuno Reis on 20 minutes forced the hosts’ hand as they brought on the returning Luna a lot earlier than they would have originally planned to.
Luna’s introduction proved to be a masterstroke with the Uruguayan slotting in perfectly up front to support Andrew Nabbout and Craig Noone.
Melbourne’s breakthrough arrived soon after and it came from a more than familiar source in Maclaren as he side footed home after being expertly laid off by Florin Berengeur on the edge of the box.
Kisnorbo’s men remained on the front foot for the remainder of the half with Luna once again proving to be the danger man for City in the attacking third.
The midfield dynamo teed up Maclaren whose effort was instinctively palmed away by Mark Birighitti who soon put rest to another two well-constructed City efforts.
The Central Coast custodian was up to the task on both occasions as he firstly poked Luna’s strike wide of the post before performing a one handed save to deny the Uruguayan’s header.
The second half saw City return to where they left off and it did not take long before they were able to double their advantage courtesy of a well-taken strike from Nathaniel Atkinson in the 56th minute.
The City wing back began the move after he dispossessed Jack Clisby before setting up Nabbout down the right wing.
The young defender remained on his toes as he struck from a tight angle after Nabbout’s original effort was deflected off Mariners defender, Ruon Tongyik.
The hosts remained ruthless in attack and with Maclaren next to ask questions of Birighitti who was up to the task as he kept out his header from point blank range.
As the second half wore on, the match began to open up and Central Coast began to produce chances of their own.
The introduction of Alou Kuol on 67 minutes added another dimension to the visitors’ attack but it proved to be to no avail with City staying strong defensively as they held on to register their fifth clean sheet of the campaign.
