Melbourne City coach John van’t Schip hailed the value of dynamic Argentine import Fernando Brandan following the forward’s thumping goal in Friday night’s 1-1 draw with Sydney FC.
Brandan opened the scoring in spectacular fashion at ANZ Stadium, dribbling at the heart of Sydney’s defence before unleashing an unstoppable bullet beyond a full-stretch Danny Vukovic.
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The winger proved a constant menace to the Sky Blues’ back four and now boasts three goals in nine starts.
“He’s a great player for us,” van’t Schip told Fox Sports.
“His work ethic is very high, he defends, he battles, he’s creative. We’re happy with him and happy he scored this goal.
“Unfortunately it wasn’t the goal for the win but we have to move on.”
Van’t Schip admitted City needed to lift for next weekend’s Melbourne Derby having let slip of what would have been a crucial three points in the title race.
“If you want to win these games, and we were leading 1-0, you have to be at your best,” the Dutchman said of Friday night’s draw.
“Maybe not all our players were at their best. That’s something we have to improve on looking forward to next week.
“We wanted to close the gap but it didn’t happen this evening. In the coming weeks we hope to close the gap more.”
