Melbourne City’s impressive run of form in the Hyundai A-League was brought to a sobering end on Saturday night with a loss to lowly Wellington Phoenix in Auckland.
Despite going in front via a superb goal from Bruno Fornaroli, City weren’t able to go on with it, losing 2-1 after a double to impressive Phoenix youngster Sarpreet Singh.
The defeat snapped a three-game winning streak for Warren Joyce’s men and means they head into next week’s Elimination Final on the back of a loss.
And it could prove costly as City haven’t responded well to losses during the 2017/18 Season.
On each occasion City has lost a match this season, it has seen them go on a winless run of at least three matches.
If that trend continues it means their time in the Finals Series won’t last too long, despite having a home game at AAMI Park.
It was the same scenario last season where a final round defeat to Perth was compounded with an Elimination Final loss to the same opposition at AAMI the following week.
What will happen this time? We’ll find out on Friday night.
MORE MATCH FACTS
- All four of Wellington Phoenix’s Hyundai A-League victories this season have been by a margin of one goal, with both teams netting.
- Wellington’s victory ended a run of six straight wins in this fixture for the Citizens.
- City striker Bruno Fornaroli has scored six goals in seven Hyundai A-League appearances against Wellington Phoenix, including a goal in each of his last three.
- City registered their third highest possession figure of the season (63.5%), while their highest (69.5%) also came against the Nix in their meeting in January.
