Melbourne City beat Central Coast Mariners 2-1 at AAMI Park and break into the playoff places of the Isuzu UTE A-League.
Andreas Kuen opened the scoring after the turf played tricks on Nathan Paull and Andrew Nabbout slammed home the second before a late consolation from Ali Auglah.
The win lifts Melbourne City from eighth to sixth, pushing Macarthur out of the playoff places. Central Coast are left in ninth, four points off the top six.
Daniel Arzani enjoyed a bright start to the match and he curled in a very inviting ball after 10 minutes but neither Max Caputo nor Elbasan Rashani were able to make it count.
Melbourne City broke the deadlock in the 22nd minute when Andreas Kuen drove through the midfield and, in the space created by an unfortunate slip from Nathan Paull, fired in a shot that took a deflection and bounced in off the post despite a desperate touch from Andrew Redmayne.
Arzani’s lively first half continued and he called Redmayne into action just moments after the opening goal with a sweetly struck volley from inside the area. Just two minutes later he latched onto a clever flick from Kuel but his first-time strike fizzed past the post.
The second half was crying out for a well-crafted chance and Melbourne City delivered it in the 67th minute. A sequence of fine passes ended with Arzani, who twisted one way and the other before picking out Andrew Nabbout who whipped the ball right into the top corner from inside the area.
In the final minute of stoppage time Sabit Ngor was slipped in behind a slightly complacent Melbourne City line and he squared it to Ali Auglah who tapped in a late consolation for the visitors.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
WHAT THEY SAID
Daniel Arzani
Warren Moon
