Tim Cahill “couldn’t wish for a better start” to life at Melbourne City, according to his coach John van ‘t Schip.
Cahill made his A-League debut in the Melbourne derby on Saturday night and opened the scoring with one of the best goal’s in the competition’s history, crunching the ball into the top corner from 40 yards.
Cahill magic lifts City to thumping Melbourne Derby win
The Socceroos forward sparked City’s emphatic 4-1 triumph over Melbourne Victory, with Bruno Fornaroli, Luke Brattan and Fernando Brandan scoring the other goals.
With so much focus around Cahill in the lead-up to the A-League season, Hollywood script-writers would have struggled to come up with a better start for Australia’s all-time leading scorer.
“I think the big players in a moment, when the pressure is there – they’re talking about Tim coming back – and he showed that he’s a great player,” Van ‘t Schip said at his post-match press conference.
“He couldn’t wish for a better start.”
City hadn’t won at Etihad Stadium since October 2012 during the Melbourne Heart era.
Van ‘t Schip’s side were irresistible, with the movement of Brandan, Brattan, Nicolas Colazo, Bruce Kamau and Fornaroli leaving Victory dumbfounded.
When asked how much he relished City’s performance, their Dutch coach said: “From the side you can’t do that much, so you try to enjoy as much as possible and look at the football that they’re playing but in the meantime you’re looking also to see where you can keep them on the front foot.”
City’s next match is their first home game of the A-League season when they host Perth Glory at AAMI Park on Friday before facing Victory at the same venue in the FFA Cup semi-finals on October 25.
