Melbourne City and Western United will go head-to-head once again on Saturday night as they look to secure their spot in the Isuzu UTE A-League Grand Final. Â These are the key issues for both sides heading into the crucial second leg at AAMI Park.
Western United have it all to do when they take to the field at AAMI Park on Saturday evening.
Trailing 3-0 on aggregate, John Aloisi’s side must rewrite history under the lights on Saturday and do what no side has ever done before in competition history: overturn a three-goal deficit from a semi-final first leg to book their spot in the Grand Final.
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Looking back at the 2024-25 Isuzu UTE A-League regular season, Western conceded three goals in a match on three seperate occasions and finished the campaign with the fourth-best defensive record in the league.
Naturally, conceding three goals is never normally acceptable from a coach’s perspective but Aloisi’s Western actually came away with all three points on two of those occasions, defeating both Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory 4-3 respectively.
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However, while Western United will back themselves to find the back of the net against any side in the competition (they finished the regular season as second top scorers behind the Wanderers) Aloisi’s side have encountered a real issue in doing so against Melbourne City.
Including last weekend’s first leg at AAMI Park, Western have now gone four games without finding the back of the net against Aurelio Vidmar’s side which means they’ll have to completely flip the script if they are to reach the showpiece event on May 31.
If they are to complete the miracle comeback, there’s a good chance they’ll need star striker Noah Botic to be fit and firing.
An injury doubt heading into the first leg due to a quad issue, the 23-year-old came off the bench in the 71st minute in place of Michael Ruhs, meaning Aloisi must make a big call as to whether or not he starts his top goalscorer on Saturday.
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“When you don’t have a player like him in your team, it’s obviously going to have an effect,” said Oar when discussing the Botic conundrum on Total A-Leagues.
“Fingers crossed he can play from a Western United perspective this weekend, because you want your best players on the pitch.
“I think that if they’re any chance of turning this tie around, they need him.”
Linked with a move overseas at the end of the season when his contract expires, Botic hit 11 goals during the regular Isuzu UTE A-League season in what was the best return of his career to date.
“Sometimes it’s a little bit less of a gamble to start a player who’s injured,” added Oar when asked how much of a risk it is to play Botic.
“Because if you bring on a player off the bench who’s under an injury cloud, you have to make two substitutions if something goes wrong.
“So starting a player under an injury cloud is less risky in a lot of ways and I remember when I played for Brisbane, John Aloisi did exactly this with Matt Mackay.
“He was under an injury cloud and they decided to start him because if it went wrong, you just have to make one substitution, and I think that’s what will happen this weekend.”
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On the other side of the coin are Melbourne City.
Pipping their city neighbours to second place on the ladder and with it a spot in the lucrative AFC Champions League Elite next season, Vidmar and Co once again hold the local bragging rights after the first leg of the semi-final.
Goals from German Ferreyra, Yonatan Cohen and Mathew Leckie ensured City hold a comfortable buffer going into the second leg and that scoreline also eases a potential selection headache for their head coach.
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Having battled injuries all season, Socceroo Leckie was deployed as a substitute for the eighth time this campaign and finally opened his account for the season as he scored what could well be the all-important third goal in the 3-0 win.
Given the current game state, it’s highly unlikely Vidmar will throw his senior star in from the start, especially given the 34-year-old’s comments after the game.
“I think the strange thing with me lately is, you know, I feel good in games, but it’s the following day,” said Leckie when asked about his level of fitness after the full-time whistle.
“So I’ll see how I feel tomorrow, you know. I guess we’ve got, hopefully two games left, if we get the result next week and I guess there’s nothing to lose.
“I’m going to push push my body, and you know hopefully I can stay healthy, at least for next week.”
Injuries have been the theme of City’s season with the likes of Leckie, Cohen, Socceroos Marco Tilio and Andrew Nabbout, Austrian import Andreas Kuen and midfielder Jimmy Jeggo all missing significant periods of the campaign.
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But despite that lengthy list of absentees, Vidmar has steered his side to second spot on the ladder and within touching distance of the Isuzu UTE A-League Grand Final and they certainly make for a formidable opponent for anyone in the league, especially now the majority of those previously injured stars and fit and firing.
Watch Melbourne City v Western United in the Semi-Final second leg this Saturday night at AAMI Park from 7:35pm AEST. Watch live on Paramount+.
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