City Views – A Forgettable Sunday
It was a typical Melbourne City performance that ended in a ‘bore draw’ against top of the league Perth Glory. Lack of creativity, lack of chances and a lack of numbers through the gates saw Melbourne City fail to take advantage of the Roar v Victory postponement and a chance to spend another week in the top six.
A last minute defensive effort from Tando Velaphi made sure the game ended level, and ensured Perth achieved what they came to Melbourne for, a solitary point. Kenny Lowe’s men failed to bring anything to the game and left the 6,486 people who managed to show up very disappointed. Maybe Andy Keogh and Josh Risdon can show more effort at the Star Bar tonight.
New arrival Kew Jaliens was one of the better performers for City but was guilty of missing a free header in the six yard box in the second half, City’s best chance. City’s other new signing Josh Kennedy made his first home start of the season and showed why he is still regarded in the ‘Marquee category’.
Sadly there was little else for City fans to get excited about in this dour Round 18 clash.
Van’t Schip’s insistence on playing possession football played right into the hands of Perth Glory, who were happy to sit back and wait for City to make the first move. The first half was the better of the two, but I wouldn’t bother staying up for the match highlights. For the top side in the league Perth looked terrible and appears to be a team on the slide. The Asian Cup couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Glory team, who are now five games without a win.
For City they now look towards Friday night and hosting Adelaide. A five day turnaround will be tough on the squad, but if City want to make the top six in their debut season an improved effort is necessary.
This Sunday afternoon will be quickly forgotten and pushed to one side; sadly this type of performance happens far too often for Melbourne’s other team. You would like to think this squad is capable of far better, but with only 10 games to turn the season around it’s hard to see how this team will achieve anything from season 2014/15.
Player Ratings
Velaphi – Hardly a strenuous day at the office, but made a very important save at the end. 7.5
Jaliens – Performed well on his debut performance, guilty of missing the best chance though. 7
Kisnorbo – Solid performance, dictates too much of the play and demands ball when unnecessary. 7
Chapman – Another clean sheet and polished performance. 7
Clisby – His worst performance in a City shirt. 4.5
Paartalu – Created little, but provided another target with Kennedy. 6
Mooy – Very wasteful from dead ball situations, created little. 6
Koren – Forgettable performance from the marquee man. 5.5
Melling – Took a few shots before getting injured. City’s best attacking option today. 7
Williams – Continues to disappoint on the pitch. Has very little confidence in his ability at the moment. 4
Kennedy – Worked hard, and was physically exhausted at the end of 90 minutes. 6
Substitutions
Murdocca Showed why he’s an important squad player, very important month coming up for Mass. 6
Hoffman – Asked to play a more attacking role due to limited options on the bench. 5
Retre – Played 3 minutes, like his team mates created nothing. 5
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