A first trip to Campbelltown
For the first time ever, Melbourne City FC will travel to Campbelltown Stadium for an A-League fixture, with the City boys set to take on Macarthur FC this Saturday.
The fifth-place Bulls will provide a stern challenge to their table-topping visitors, but City will be hopeful of securing a second-consecutive victory over the A-League newcomers, following the 3-0 result from the first encounter between teams.
We did our work early last night with all three goals coming inside the first 35 minutes before we cruised to a fourth consecutive victory.
📺 Relieve all the action from our first ever meeting with Macarthur! 👇#CmonCity pic.twitter.com/8QOsYwh1px
— Melbourne City FC (@MelbourneCity) March 12, 2021
A historic away day opportunity awaits for City fans…
Backing up a massive performance
The sheer number of records broken in our historic Derby win is surely enough to convey just how dominant a performance it was from the City boys.
With our star man Jamie Maclaren firing up front, the back four securing yet another valuable clean sheet and our substitutes providing a spark off the bench, City are well and truly back to their scintillating best.
🔹 Top of the @ALeague table
🔹 Played the least games of any top 6 team
🔹 Most goals scored
🔹 +20 goal difference
🔹 8 wins in our last 10 games#CmonCity pic.twitter.com/8sHitjpVmC— Melbourne City FC (@MelbourneCity) April 19, 2021
Without doubt though, the team will be as eager as ever for another big win when they take on Macarthur FC this weekend, so trust us when we say you won’t want to miss this one!
A milestone match for City
Saturday night’s match will also be historic in another sense; the fixture will be City’s 300th in the A-League.
What did you make of tonight's match!? A great result and performance from the Heart in our 100th match! #MHTvNEW pic.twitter.com/zlarVUcj6j
— Melbourne City FC (@MelbourneCity) January 17, 2014
The club’s big milestone games have proven successful endeavours previously, with Melbourne Heart defeating Newcastle 3-1 at home in 2013/14 to mark a century of A-League games, whilst our 200th was celebrated in a Melbourne Derby where we took the points 2-1 thanks to goals to Marcin Budzinski and Bruce Kamau.
Derby delight! See our match recap of the #MelbDerby as we took three points from our 200th @ALeague match.
📰 https://t.co/0ZSPSCw3FS pic.twitter.com/jIS2byUhlH
— Melbourne City FC (@MelbourneCity) October 14, 2017
City has scored 459 goals in the A-League so far, with only Melbourne Victory scoring more in its first 300 games with 495.
A-League’s next centurion
Following his astonishing five-goal haul in Saturday’s Derby, Jamie Maclaren has moved to 98 A-League goals, and could become just the second player in A-League history after Besart Berisha to reach a century of goals in the competition.
Jamie Maclaren is 𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 goals ahead in the @ALeague Golden Boot race. 🤯#CmonCity pic.twitter.com/gc3a4Y3AEK
— Melbourne City FC (@MelbourneCity) April 20, 2021
With Berisha having reached the milestone in 156 games, it’s very likely that Maclaren will achieve the feat quicker, having played 141 games to date.
The striker boasts the second-best goals-to-games ratio in A-League history at 0.695, just 0.001 behind Sydney FC marksman Bobô.
A chance to build a buffer
Following City’s resounding 7-0 Derby win, it was the results of games around the league that enabled our rise to the top of the A-League ladder, with previously leaders Central Coast going down 1-0 to Western United and fellow contender Adelaide United only able to scrape a draw in their game against Sydney FC.
With City now one point ahead of its nearest rival and also with a game in-hand, Saturday’s clash with Macarthur FC is first and foremost and opportunity to start building a buffer on the chasing pack, with the Premier’s Plate now very much in our sights.
