Melbourne City coach Warren Joyce questioned his side’s mental toughness after they crumbled to a 2-1 defeat away to Western Sydney Wanderers on Monday.
Leading through Ross McCormack’s 25th-minute opener, City found themselves behind shortly after the half-hour as Wanderers struck twice in two minutes.
McCormack failed to convert a penalty later in the half as the visitors’ loss of concentration resulted in a third straight defeat.
“Poor decisions let [Wanderers] back in the game and gave them two opportunities from nowhere really,” Joyce told Fox Sports.
“We’ve got to stop giving stupid goals away.
“When we’re in control we tend to take our foot off the gas.
“We’re not mature enough in talking and dealing and playing those situations out. They get casual at times.”
With three goals from their past four games, and a reliance on McCormack to fire, Joyce admits City’s problems are not confined to defence.
“We had a lot of really good opportunities where we weren’t even clever enough to have a good effort on goal,” he said.
“That’s frustrating, disappointing. We’ve got to get goals from all areas of the park.”
