Melbourne City has won back-to-back A-League games for the first time this season to jump into the top-six.
The reigning champions’ inconsistent campaign seems to be finally gathering some much-needed momentum following a 2-1 win over Central Coast Mariners at AAMI Park on Tuesday night.
City’s win – propelled by goals from Andreas Kuen and substitute Andrew Nabbout – came just three nights after a 3-0 home victory over cellar dwellers Western Sydney Wanderers.
The success also lifted City into sixth place on the ladder and one point ahead of Macarthur FC in the battle for a finals berth.
While it was good news for City’s hopes of finishing in the top-six, the Mariners’ bid to play finals football suffered, with their loss resulting in them falling to four points outside of the top six with just three rounds of the regular season remaining.
City coach Aurelio Vidmar was particularly pleased with his team’s first-half performance.
“We haven’t had two (A-League) wins in a row all season, so that was really important,” Vidmar told Paramount Plus.
“Now we’ve got almost another grand final on Sunday against Wellington (at AAMI Park).”
Despite City’s overall dominance, it was the Mariners who had the first chance of the game in the 10th minute through teenage attacker Arthur De Lima.
However, his shot was saved at point-blank range from City goalkeeper James Nieuwenhuizen, who was again deputising for injured first-choice gloveman Patrick Beach.
A City side without suspended star Marcus Younis then took control of the contest, creating a host of opportunities in quick succession.
Two of them fell for striker Max Caputo in the 19th and 21st minutes, but he failed to convert either.
However, City weren’t to be denied in the 22nd minute when Austrian midfielder Kuen made the most of an untimely slip from Mariners defender Nathan Paull to give the hosts the lead with a shot that deflected off Paull’s central-defensive partner Brad Tapp.
The deflection wrong-footed Mariners goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne, who despite getting a hand to the ball, couldn’t prevent it from rolling into the back of the net.
Redmayne came to his side’s rescue two minutes later with a good save to deny playmaker Daniel Arzani.
Soon after Arzani had another chance to double his team’s lead but failed to hit the target when he should have done better.
Despite their ongoing dominance, City couldn’t add to its lead before half-time.
However, what turned out to be a crucial goal came for the Melbourne outfit in the 67th minute when Arzani fed Nabbout, who finished in style to score his second goal of the season and double City’s lead.
The Mariners fought to the end and grabbed a consolation goal in stoppage-time through Ali Auglah, but it wasn’t enough to deny City a deserved win.
