City face a trip across the Tasman Sea this weekend, taking on the Wellington Phoenix at Westpac Stadium on Sunday evening.
Six-pointer
City’s scoreless draw with Adelaide in Round 25 and Wellington’s loss to Brisbane, sets up a mouth-watering finish to the season as the race to finish in the top-four ahead of the 2018/19 finals series heats up.
With the Reds sitting in fourth position on 38 points, both City and the ‘Nix sit hot on their heels one-point behind, ready to pounce.
The current situation sets up an enthralling six-point affair in New Zealand, with both teams desperate to secure a top-four finish. It’s Easter Sunday football and with the battle to finish in the top-four set to go down to the wire, we are set for a cracker!
A giant between the sticks
Man-of-the-match in Round 25, Eugene Galekovic again proved to be the man for the big occasion.
The 37-year-old stepped up time and time again to keep his team in it against the Reds, including a fingertip save to deny Craig Goodwin with only minutes to play.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, this man is like a fine wine, he gets better with age.
Flying Frenchman
City attacker Florin Berenguer has come into his own over the past fortnight, putting in arguably his two best shifts in City blue over the past two rounds.
The Frenchman looks to have a new-found confidence in his play, attacking the opposition’s defence with a fearless approach that has seen him create several chances for his teammates.
If there’s one thing that’s missing it’s that elusive opening goal, could this Sunday be the night that he breaks his goal drought? We’ll have to wait and see.
Bounce back ability
The last time the two teams met at Westpac Stadium was in Round 16, where the ‘Nix ran away with a 1-0 win after David Williams found the back of the net inside the opening five minutes.
A best-on-ground performance from Wellington goalkeeper Filip Kurto saw the shot-stopper deny City an equaliser on several occasions.
With one win apiece this season, Joyce’s men will be eager to bounce back in Wellington, as they look to leapfrog their rivals on the league table.
Two to go…
With just two regular league season fixtures remaining, City will be looking to make it two from two and propel themselves into this season’s finals series.
Unbeaten in their past two fixtures, City will look to extend their unbeaten run to three games as they gather much-needed momentum heading into the knockout stage.
Following their trip to Wellington, the boys in City blue return to AAMI Park to take on Central Coast in their last home game of the regular season. Get your tickets here.
