Melbourne City moved up to third on the Isuzu UTE A-League table with a 2-0 win over Wellington Phoenix at AAMI Park on Friday night.
22-year-old Harry Politidis scored his first league goal in the seventh minute to put City on top and Socceroo Nathaniel Atkinson iced the contest in the 83rd minute with the home side’s second of the afternoon.
Already missing several first-team stars, City were dealt another injury blow in the first half when Andreas Kuen was withdrawn with an apparent hamstring injury.
With Yonatan Cohen, James Jeggo, Marco Tilio, Mathew Leckie and Andrew Nabbout all already sidelined through injury, Vidmar leant on young talent to fill the void on Friday afternoon as his relatively inexperienced squad notched a comfortable 2-0 win over Wellington.
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Vidmar selected two 19-year-olds in his starting XI against Wellington (Ben Mazzeo and Arion Sulemani) and brought four teenagers off his bench throughout the 2-0 win; Zane Schreiber (19) replaced Kuen in the first half and Medin Memeti (17), Kavian Rahmani (18) and Michael Ghossaini (17) were all utilised in the second half.
It was a special day for Ghossaini, who made his home debut after coming off the bench in City’s 1-1 draw away to Central Coast Mariners on New Year’s Eve, and the teenager provided the assist for Atkinson’s sealing goal to cap off a memorable first game at AAMI Park in City’s senior squad.
Post-game, Atkinson highlighted Ghossaini’s impact off the bench as an example of what injury-hit City need from their young players in the coming weeks, with so many senior first-team members sidelined with injuries.
“Honestly, Mikey is a good little player,” Atkinson told Network 10.
“You can tell with the little minutes he’s had – but in training, we see it every day. We’ve got a good crop coming through. Obviously Kavian (Rahmani) and Medin (Memeti) are doing well and also Arion (Sulemani) in the first half.
“We need to call upon them now, obviously Andres (Kuen) has gone down with injury as well. It’s unfortunate, but it’s a chance for the young boys to play.”
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It took just seven minutes for City to take the lead in what became a dominant first half for the hosts.
Kuen provided the assist for Politidis whose first-time shot off the Austrian’s cutback pass hit the post on the way over the line.
Politidis’ first Isuzu UTE A-League goal came in his 22nd league appearance for City, as the young midfielder enjoys a run of starts in his side’s starting XI.
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Kuen missed City’s last fixture against Central Coast Mariners on New Year’s Eve but his return to the matchday squad lasted just 19 minutes, when he was substituted after succumbing to what appeared to be a right hamstring injury.
With Jeggo, Leckie, Cohen, Tilio and Nabbout all watching on from the stands on Friday afternoon, Kuen’s premature withdrawal provided City head coach Aurelio Vidmar yet another headache to contend with as he counts the cost of a growing injury list just 12 rounds into the season.
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The hosts were utterly dominant through the first half at AAMI Park, taking eight shots to Wellington’s zero and enjoying 63% of possession.
Wellington had just 10 touches in their attacking half through the first 45 minutes and zero in City’s defensive penalty area, while the home side enjoyed 265 attacking-half touches – but had just one goal to show for their imperious performance by the break.
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City continued to dominate proceedings in the second half but were unable to add a second goal to the scoreboard until the 83rd minute when 17-year-old substitute Michael Ghossaini notched his first A-Leagues assist for Socceroos defender Atkinson, who got on the end of a well-worked attacking move to put the hosts two goals ahead and confirm a comfortable win for the home side.
