The clash
The A-League season is back in full swing and Melbourne City FC will be back in action on Sunday night when it travels to Adelaide to take on the Reds.
City opened its season on Tuesday night with a 0-1 win away from home against Brisbane thanks to a second half goal to Connor Metcalfe.
Congratulations, Connor!
His match-winning goal against the Roar has been voted the #ALeague Goal of the Week!#CityTogether #GOTW pic.twitter.com/h5xsUSJafU
— Melbourne City FC (@MelbourneCity) January 1, 2021
Along with Metcalfe, Aiden O’Neill put in a great performance controlling the midfield in what was his first official game for the Club.
🏃♂️ @aidenoneill98 was everywhere in our win over the Roar.
Check out his heat map thanks to @Cisco 👇#ALeague pic.twitter.com/6LIcpTEm6a
— Melbourne City FC (@MelbourneCity) December 30, 2020
Tuesday also saw a first A-League appearance for Japanese attacker Naoki Tsubaki who came on in the second half to replace the injured Andrew Nabbout.
Nabbout is expected to miss six weeks which will provide an opportunity for Tsubaki or the likes of Stefan Colakovski or Marco Tilio to nail down a starting spot.
The Reds began their season with a scoreless draw against Western United so will be eager to score a first win of the new campaign on Sunday.
Adelaide hasn’t been the happiest hunting ground for City as of late, having lost three in a row at Hindmarsh Stadium although the last meeting between these teams was in August in the NSW hub.
That fixture ended 2-2 after Jamie Maclaren and Adrian Luna scored first half goals for City before Adelaide were able to come back in the second half and ensure the points were shared.
Team news
Patrick Kisnorbo has been forced to make a couple of changes to his squad due to Nabbout’s hamstring injury and a one match suspension to Luna who was sent off after picking up two yellows against the Roar.
Melbourne City FC squad: 1.Tom GLOVER (gk), 2.Scott GALLOWAY, 3.Scott JAMIESON (c), 7.Rostyn GRIFFITHS, 8.Aiden O’NEILL, 9.Jamie MACLAREN, 10.Florin BERENGUER-BOHRER, 11.Craig NOONE, 14.Naoki TSUBAKI, 16.Taras GOMULKA, 17.Stefan COLAKOVSKI, 18.Connor METCALFE, 19.Ben GARUCCIO, 22.Curtis GOOD, 23.Marco TILIO, 33.Matthew SUTTON (gk), 35. Raphael BORGES RODRIGUES, 36.Kerrin STOKES, 38. Jordan BOS, 42. Ahmad TALEB.
**2-4 to be omitted**
Ins: 35. Raphael BORGES RODRIGUES (promoted), 38. Jordan BOS (promoted).
Outs: 15. Andrew NABBOUT (hamstring), 20. Adrian LUNA (suspension).
Unavailable: 13.Nathaniel ATKINSON (hamstring), 15. Andrew NABBOUT (hamstring), 20. Adrian LUNA (suspension).
What was said
“We know Adelaide are a tough team to play, especially at home. They’ve got some very good players and a good coaching staff so we are just focusing on us and how we can break them down.
-A-League Head Coach Patrick Kisnorbo
Match details
A-League Round 2
Adelaide United v Melbourne City FC
Hindmarsh Stadium
Kick-off at 6.05pm (AEDT)
