Marco Tilio put on a show as Melbourne City dismantled Sydney FC to reach another Isuzu UTE A-League Grand Final, KEEPUP’s Sacha Pisani reports from AAMI Park.
He gets knocked down, but he gets back up again. You’re never going to keep Marco Tilio down.
Whether it was Max Burgess or not, Sydney FC tried, tried and tried some more but they could not stop the Melbourne City star, who was simply irresistible in Friday night’s 4-0 rout – a result that not only sealed a 5-1 aggregate win but a spot in the Isuzu UTE A-League Grand Final.
Tilio came in for some rough treatment from his former club in the Semi Final second leg at AAMI Park. There was the Burgess red-card challenge – a reckless tackle in the 20th minute that had the entire City bench jumping off their seats. Richard van der Venne was furious and had to be restrained.
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But with Socceroos boss Graham Arnold a notable onlooker, his Australian winger was not intimidated, far from it. It only fuelled him. Tilio got up and continued to run at Sydney defenders, providing a constant threat throughout the 90 minutes and he even got his goal in the 67th minute.
It was a trademark strike from a player at the top of his game. For his head coach Rado Vidosic, it was some of his other work that caught the eye and has him predicting big things.
“Marco has been fantastic for us. Since I came, you can see every week he is improving,” Vidosic told reporters.
“There was talk about maybe his defensive side isn’t as good as it could be. But today and even in Sydney last week, his effort, his running, his recovery, his sprinting defensively was excellent.
“We know he has all the tools to score goals and create goals. He is such an exciting player.
“To add to his defensive game, I think the sky is the limit for him.”
Tilio and three-time reigning premiers City have a Grand Final to prepare for – their fourth in succession. Awaiting them in the June 3 decider will be either Central Coast Mariners or Adelaide United.
But beyond 2022-23, it remains to be seen what the future holds for the 21-year-old, who has spoken openly about testing himself abroad.
Under the lights in Melbourne on Friday, Tilio was a handful from the opening whistle.
Sydney should’ve seen it coming. Tilio’s formative years were spent with the Sky Blues between 2015 and 2020. He even made his A-League Men debut for the club.
In the Semi Final second leg, he came back to haunt the team that gave him his first taste of senior football. Aiden O’Neill provided the pass that unleashed Tilio and as he so often does, the speedster finished emphatically past international teammate Andrew Redmayne.
“Knowing Redders personally, I know he likes to stay big. It was either an idea of going through his legs, or lifting it high above his head,” he told 10 Bold.
“So I actually got spoken to at half time, so I knew I was going to get the opportunity to do it, and it came off. So I’m really happy.
“I still have a soft spot in my heart for Sydney FC. I did all my youth years there and I’m still mates with the boys back there at home.
“Melbourne City took me in and we’ve been really successful in the past three years, and I can’t thank the club enough for putting enough faith in me, from PK (Patrick Kisnorbo) to Rado now, and I’ve been thriving.
“I just want to continue this success at the club and bring another trophy back to Melbourne.”
