A moment of incisiveness from Socceroo trio Andrew Nabbout, Mat Leckie, and Jamie Maclaren has lifted Melbourne City to a 1-0 win over Macarthur FC.
REACTION: Socceroos take ‘no risks’ with Leckie: Why City star is not on the plane to Jeddah
Two days after mostly observing Australia’s 2-0 World Cup qualifying loss to Japan from the sidelines, Maclaren turned match-winner for his club side in the 64th minute after build-up play from Leckie and Nabbout.
Maclaren and Leckie had only been released from international duty overnight: the former’s impending nuptials rendering him unavailable for next week’s fixture against Saudi Arabia.
The sudden dead-rubber nature of that game also made Leckie surplus to national requirements.
But despite the unexpected presences on the opposition team sheet, the Bulls thought they’d opened the scoring in the seventh minute when a goalmouth scramble was eventually bundled home by Ulises Davila.
VAR intervention, however, ruled that the Mexican attacker booted the ball out of Tom Glover’s hands and awarded City a free-kick.
A cross from Noone provided Davila with the means to make amends in the 21st but both his initial effort and follow-up shot were hammered straight at Glover.
Out-shot nine to two by the Bulls despite having 68 per cent of the ball in the opening half, City’s best chance arrived late when Maclaren flicked a corner onto goal, only for Nicholas Suman to make the save.
Yet the move to throw Leckie into the fray for the second stanza paid dividends when Nabbout found him in space on the left.
Composing himself, the attacker sliced the ball across the face of goal that Maclaren, deemed onside after a VAR review, slid home to finish.
Despite hammering away at their foes in the dying stages, Macarthur couldn’t find a response and will now turn their focus to Sydney FC on Wednesday.
Still top of the league, City faces Wellington next Saturday.
RE-LIVE: MACARTHUR FC 0-1 MELBOURNE CITY, AS IT HAPPENED
By Matt Comito for KEEPUP
The Bulls threw the kitchen sink at City in the final stages, but the visitors held firm to secure a crucial three points on the road, with Maclaren’s goal the difference at full-time.
86′: CHANCE! Ruhs lets golden opportunity slip by (0-1)
James Meredith’s cross to the back post was a dangerous one, but Michael Ruhs couldn’t take advantage as the visitors were handed a lifeline at Campbelltown Stadium.
66′: GOAL! Maclaren scores goal number 13 of the season (0-1)
Jamie Maclaren has returned from Socceroos duty to put City ahead with a sliding finish inside the six-yard box.
The offside flag went up to deny Maclaren the opener initially, before the VAR found Maclaren was onside to tap home Leckie’s pass across the six-yard box.
46′: SECOND HALF UNDERWAY (0-0)
City head coach Patrick Kisnorbo makes two changes for the second half, with Kerrin Stokes and Raphael Borges Rodrigues making way for Jordon Hall and Mathew Leckie.
HALF-TIME: MACARTHUR 0-0 CITY
There was plenty to digest in an entertaining first half, with a total of four yellow cards brandished to players of both teams as tempers flared at Campbelltown Stadium.
But neither side managed to break the deadlock throughout an engrossing 45 minutes.
21′: DOUBLE SAVE! Glover denies Dávila the opener (0-0)
Dávila arrived in the box to meet a Noone cross whipped across the ground toward the penalty spot; Glover stood firm to repel his first-time strike, but the rebound fell back into the path of the Bulls captain.
Dávila sent the ball back on goal but Glover did well to parry once more to keep the visitors on level terms.
7′: FOUL! Chaos in the box as Bulls opener scratched (0-0)
Macarthur FC thought they had an early lead after a mad scramble in the six-yard box.
A Tom Glover save from Craig Noone’s shot led to a tangle between Apostolos Giannou and Curtis Good in the goal mouth. A ricochet off Good sent the ball rolling toward goal; Glover pounced to make a desperate gather before Ulises Dávila crunched in to take the ball out of his grasp and over the line.
Referee Alex King was beckoned over to the pitch-side monitor, deciding to award a foul to Glover as the home side’s opener was scrubbed from the scoresheet.
1′: KICK-OFF
The game gets underway at Campbelltown Stadium.
