Melbourne City academy product Lawrence Wong scored his first Isuzu UTE A-League goal to help his side to a tight 1-0 win over Perth Glory at AAMI Park on Saturday afternoon.
The 17-year-old academy graduate became the first City player to have come through the club’s entire Player Development Pathway to score in the A-Leagues in his fifth league game, after making his debut in January.
At 17 years and 132 days of age, Wong became City’s youngest-ever Isuzu UTE A-League goalscorer with his sensational strike against Perth.
Youngest goalscorers in Melbourne City history, Isuzu UTE A-League
- Lawrence Wong: 17 years, 132 days (February 2025)
- Medin Memeti: 17 years, 143 days (November 2024)
- Medin Memeti: 17 years, 178 days (December 2024)
- Max Caputo: 17 years, 228 days (April 2023)
- Benjamin Mazzeo: 18 years, 144 days (December 2023)
- Benjamin Mazzeo: 18 years, 169 days (December 2023)
Wong’s top-corner finish was the only goal of an entertaining first half in which Glory could have shipped several goals, but also should have found the back of the net off the back of great chances to Will Freney and Tomislav Mrcela.
There were no goals to come in an uneventful second stanza as City held on to claim all three points and move up to fourth on the Isuzu UTE A-League table.
Lachie Wales came close to the opener for Perth when he whipped a curling effort toward the top-right corner from the edge of the box, but City keeper Patrick Beach got his glove to the ball to keep the new Glory man off the scoresheet.
Down the other end, City youngster Kavian Rahmani had the home side’s best chance of the opening 20 minutes when played down the left-hand side of the 18-yard box by Marco Tilio. Rahmani looked to curl his shot back across goal but instead placed the ball straight down the middle for Oli Sail to save.
Rahmani would have been disappointed with his first attempt of the game but his second had the quality to find the top-right corner from outside the box – but Sail produced a save to match, leaping to his left to tip the ball around the post.
Soon after, 17-year-old Wong followed Rahmani’s lead in searching for the top-right corner with a curling effort from distance and this time, Sail had no hope of making a save as the City academy product put his side ahead with a strike of immense quality.
City looked to swiftly capitalise on the momentum gained from scoring the opening goal and thought they’d doubled the lead when Caputo tapped home from close range after a Sail save but the young striker’s goal was ruled out for offside.
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Glory then had a great opportunity to find a quickfire equaliser when young midfielder Will Freney pounced on a loose ball in the box but the 19-year-old couldn’t keep the attempt down as he skied his shot over the crossbar.
The hosts took a 1-0 lead into the break but the scoreline could have been vastly different at half-time if either side had capitalised on their chances; Freney’s big chance late in the half and a header from Tomislav Mrcela that crashed off the crossbar stood out as the visiting side’s best moments of the first 45 at AAMI Park.
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Nine minutes into the second half, Nikola Mileusnic put Beach to the test as Glory looked for a second-half leveller.
Having collected possession on the halfway line, Mileusnic drove to the edge of the box and fired a dipping effort on goal that Beach did well to collect.
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Opportunities were few and far between for either side in the second half as City navigated to the final whistle with their clean sheet intact to get back to winning ways after three-consecutive defeats heading into Round 19.
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