Socceroos star Mathew Leckie has marked his return to Melbourne City’s starting lineup after an early-season injury, with his goal the difference in an entertaining 2-1 win over Perth Glory at HBF Park on Friday night.
City and Perth exchanged goals in an action-packed first half that featured two penalties – one missed by Glory’s Salim Khelifi, one scored by City’s Tolgay Arslan – and three VAR reviews, including referee Daniel Cook’s decision to reverse an early red card for Callum Talbot.
Leckie made his first start of the season after a bench appearance in Round 6, and after an injury-interrupted start to the 2023-24 campaign came the moment of class that sealed all three points for the visitors, with his 66th-minute header proving the difference in Perth.
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The first-half chaos began when City full-back Talbot saw red for a challenge of Salim Khelifi in his defensive half – a decision referee Cook would eventually overturn after a VAR review.
Talbot had dragged Khelifi down as the Glory midfielder prepared to tear toward goal and referee Cook was quick to pull the red card out of his pocket – but the review found Talbot had not denied the Tunisian a clear goalscoring opportunity, with City centre-back Curtis Good well placed to cover after the incident occurred.
From the resulting free-kick came the second VAR check in quick succession when Cook ruled against awarding Perth a penalty for a handball on Leckie in the box.
A Mark Beevers header from the set piece repelled off Leckie’s right arm, and after holding up play to review the incident, the referee was sent to the pitchside monitor where, on second review, he decided to award Perth the spot kick.
Khelifi stepped forward to take the penalty but crashed his attempt off the post. City keeper Jamie Young had guessed the right way but wasn’t called into a save as the visitors set off on a fast break following Khelifi’s miss.
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Hamza Sakhi threatened to break the deadlock from range in the 26th minute, with his curling effort beating Glory goalkeeper Cameron Cook, but like Khelifi from the spot, Sakhi could only watch as his attempt struck the woodwork.
Nine minutes later, City had their own calls for a penalty waved away by Cook when Johnny Koutroumbis dragged Tolgay Arslan down in the box as he attempted to latch onto a Marin Jakolis cross. Following the theme of the first half, Cook’s original decision not to award the penalty was reversed after a look at the monitor.
Arslan took on penalty duties and sent Cook the wrong way with a classy finish into the bottom-left corner as City took the lead.
In first-half stoppage time, Alessandro Lopane gifted Adam Taggart the equaliser. Lopane received the ball to feet from Samuel Souprayen playing out from the back, but his first-time pass back to Young lacked pace and invited Taggart in to take possession, round the City keeper and tuck the ball home.
Seven additional minutes elapsed as the referee called an end to an entertaining opening first half.
The game remained deadlocked until the 66th minute when City star Mathew Leckie leapt above Beevers to head the visitors back into the lead.
It was Socceroo to Socceroo as City scored their second, with Aziz Behich providing the assist with an inviting cross to attack. It was Leckie’s first goal of the season in his first start following an injury that kept the winger sidelined through the first five rounds of the season.
Pressure was building on the hosts to find a way back level and Taggart almost had the answer with a sharp touch and shot on the turn in the 80th minute, with a smart save from Young denying Glory a second goal.
Young then came to the rescue again to foil Taggart twice in a matter of seconds; a pair of close-range headers from the Glory striker put Young to the test and on both occasions his desperate glove work came to City’s rescue.
The visiting side was inspired by the exploits of their goalkeeper, with Curtis Good adding a dramatic block to the highlight reel as City survived a late push from Perth to claim all three points on the road.
The talking point
Mathew Leckie wasted no time getting back up to speed in his first start for Melbourne City this season, scoring the match-winner in Perth on Friday night.
Leckie spent three months sidelined by a lateral collateral ligament (LCL) injury in his knee before returning to action with City in the Asian Champions League in late November. That was a substitute appearance against Ventforet Kofu in Japan; he backed that up with another cameo off the bench against Newcastle Jets in Round 6 of the Isuzu UTE A-League season, but on Friday night he was thrust into the starting XI by City boss Aurelio Vidmar to take on Perth.
Leckie played 81 minutes at AAMI Park, scoring a 66th-minute header to seal all the points for City.
He broke down the match-winning moment to Paramount+ post-game, praising City and Socceroos teammate Aziz Behich for creating the goal.
“I’m normally on the wing out wide, but I like to get myself inside and knowing that if there’s a cross coming in, there’s an extra man with Macca (Jamie Maclaren) in there,” Leckie said.
“I felt in the first half I was out wide and I wasn’t getting much of the ball, and I knew that if I tucked in a little bit more and Aziz (Behich) went higher we could cause some problems.
“Aziz got enough space to beat his man and set it up perfectly, when it’s lofted in like that it gives me a lot of time to jump. I’m buzzing about it.”
As Socceroos head coach Graham Arnold prepares to reveal his squad for the AFC Asian Cup next month, Leckie’s resurgence in City colours will be a splendid sight for the national team boss.
One of the stars of the 2022 World Cup campaign, who scored the match-winner against Denmark to send Australia to the Round of 16, Leckie is already showing encouraging signs in his limited minutes for his club this season as he strengthens his claim for a spot in the Asian Cup squad.
After playing a decisive role in City’s win over Perth, Leckie said his first start was a “massive” step forward in his road back to full fitness.
“First and foremost with my injury, that seems to be really good,” Leckie told Paramount+.
“I made sure I took all the time I needed to make sure it was right. My knee is good which is the most important, match fitness is (also) important and I’ve come off the bench the last two games which has helped a lot.
“I think this (81) minutes was massive. Physically, I feel very good. Obviously, a match is a different sort of fitness, so I just need to get the minutes in.”
In review of Leckie’s performance against Perth, Paramount+ commentator Phil Moss expressed his excitement at seeing the City and Socceroos winger making his mark in the Isuzu UTE A-League once more.
“I thought Mat Leckie, aside from the goal, in general play I thought he was fantastic tonight,” Moss said.
“He showed some signs of real creativity, his energy was fantastic and I think he’s really on track now to get back in the Socceroos lineup and really have an impact at the Asian Cup.”
The moment
In the 83rd minute, Perth Glory stepped up their relentless pursuit of an equaliser.
Cometh the moment, cometh the man: Jamie Young.
The Melbourne City keeper had just denied Adam Taggart a second goal with a big save just minutes prior – but then, he took his game to another level to shut the door on the Glory striker – twice.
His double save with the result on the line was the difference in the end as Taggart saw two well-placed headers kept out by Young’s safe hands.
What it means
For Perth Glory, it’s a fourth-consecutive loss – but this one will hurt for Alen Stajcic’s side, who needed to bounce back after a tough streak of three games on the road.
Glory are floundering in 11th spot on the table after seven games, just one point clear of Western United in 12th.
City meantime have notched back-to-back Isuzu UTE A-League wins for the first time this season to climb back toward the top six; after five games Vidmar’s side had won just once but are starting to settle into the campaign, and the return of Leckie as a squad regular will only strengthen their chances of putting together a strong run of form.
