Melbourne City head coach Aurelio Vidmar revealed fears of a potential anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury to Andrew Nabbout suffered during his side’s 1-0 win over Western United at AAMI Park on Monday night.
Despite the result, the Isuzu UTE A-League Round 3 clash could prove extremely costly to City and Vidmar after the injury to Nabbout and a fresh hamstring concern for Marco Tilio, who was substituted in the first half.
Nabbout was the difference for City on Monday night, with his 49th-minute goal separating the two sides in the final fixture of Round 3. But just minutes after scoring for City, Nabbout succumbed to injury and was helped off the pitch in visible agony.
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After the game, City head coach Vidmar said initial fears were that Nabbout had suffered an ACL injury in his right knee, adding the caveat that the extent of the injuries to both Nabbout and Tilio would not be known until both players undergo scans in the coming days.
“First of all, it was a great win,” Vidmar said. “The boys showed terrific character and we had really a nice intensity about the game for 90 minutes – but yes, we’re all a little bit deflated with the injuries to ‘Tils and to Andy.
“Tils looks like a hamstring and Andy is a knee. We won’t know (the extent) for a couple of days, until they get the scans.”
Vidmar was then asked whether there was any concern of an ACL injury for Nabbout, to which he replied: “At this stage it looks like it is, but we’re going to have to wait until he gets a scan so it’s confirmed.”
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Tilio, meanwhile, was substituted in the first half after suffering an apparent hamstring injury – the latest in a string of setbacks for the 23-year-old in recent years.
Vidmar said the initial feeling was that Tilio’s injury was not as severe as the hamstring tendon injury the young forward suffered in February that ruled him out of action for two months in the latter stages of the 2023-24 season.
“He (Tilio) said he felt a spasm in the hamstring,” Vidmar said. “Again, I’m no doctor, no physio. He feels like it’s not as bad as it was last year (season) – so touch wood.”
“He’s had an excellent pre-season,” he added. “Unfortunately, those guys who are powerful animals like Tils, they’re going to get one a season, potentially two a season. He’s very, very explosive, we know that. Andy’s a typical one that can happen (to). Leckie’s another one it can happen to.
“The skinny guys like me who can run all day, who are aerobic, they probably don’t even know they’ve got a hamstring. So that’s the difference with those types of players, they give you something extra that the others can’t give with that explosive power, and you run the risk always.
“We prepare them as best as possible, they’re strong but it can happen.”
For City, a 1-0 win on Monday night was a big result following last weekend’s disappointing display in the Melbourne Derby; Vidmar’s side now have two wins from three games this season and will hope the 3-1 defeat to Melbourne Victory in Round 2 will prove to be just a blip in the road.
For John Aloisi’s Western United, however, their winless start rolls on after two draws and a loss to begin the campaign.
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Nabbout opened the scoring for City in the second half but not before threatening to bag the opener just 16 minutes into the contest with a shot on the turn inside the box which Western keeper Matt Sutton did well to keep out.
City had the better of the first-half chances and after Nabbout’s half chance, came even closer when Harry Politidis’ attempt from a cross directed to the back post deflected off the base of the left-hand goalpost.
City were dealt two serious injury blows to key players on Monday night, beginning with an apparent hamstring injury suffered by Socceroos forward Tilio; the 23-year-old was substituted in the 40th minute in devastating scenes for a player hampered by a string of injuries in recent years.
The first half ended with late chances to both sides; Samuel Souprayen headed just wide from a City free-kick routine in the 42nd minute and in stoppage time before the break, the City defender was called into action down the other end with a vital block on Riku Danzaki’s shot on target to keep the score at 0-0 at half-time.
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City burst out of the blocks in the second half and took the lead just four minutes after the restart when Nabbout finished off a sublime team move. On his first start in the Isuzu UTE A-League, off-season signing Andreas Kuen made his mark with a pinpoint assist off the left wing.
However, Nabbout’s joy was to be short-lived as the Socceroos winger was forced off through injury just minutes after putting his side 1-0 up at AAMI Park.
With captain Aziz Behich suspended, Nabbout wore the armband for City against Western and after Vidmar watched his matchday leader score the opener, he reflected post-game on the anguish he felt seeing Nabbout succumb to what appears to be a serious knee injury so soon after scoring in his second-consecutive Isuzu UTE A-League appearance.
“That’s what really hurts,” Vidmar said.
“That’s painful because he had two Achilles operations last year and just the other day he was saying to me: ‘All I want to do is play’.
“He’s had a good start to the season, the goal was all Andy, he smashed everyone and got himself at the end of it. So yeah, that’s hard to take that one.”
Western turned the screws after going down and almost found a way back through Riku Danzaki, whose left-footed strike from an angle fizzed across goal and wide of the mark. Hiroshi Ibusuki had a rare opportunity to threaten Patrick Beach in City’s goal but his flicked attempt was thwarted by the young keeper.
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After both Tilio and Nabbout were taken off due to their respective injuries at AAMI Park, then came a moment of good news for City as Socceroos star Mathew Leckie made his long-awaited return from injury in his first appearance of the 2024-25 season.
Leckie battled a quad injury through pre-season and although he came close to returning in last week’s Melbourne Derby, head coach Aurelio Vidmar took a cautious approach to his return.
Leckie came off the bench in the 78th minute for his first minutes of the campaign.
