Melbourne City has failed to record back-to-back wins after going down to Perth Glory 1-0 in a close encounter at nib Stadium.
A lone Chris Ikonomidis just before the stroke of half time was the difference on the night as the Glory moved back to the top of the table with the three points while City maintained their spot in the top six, now seven points off Tony Popovic’s side.
Team News
Curtis Good made his first start since his return to the Club as Nathaniel Atkinson joined him in the XI. Florin Berenguer and Ritchie De Laet droped out of the side suffering injuries late in the week.
Our team is in for tonight's clash with Perth! #PERvMCY pic.twitter.com/N2pidXO9vf
— Melbourne City FC ?️ (@MelbourneCity) December 8, 2018
What Happened
A pacey start to the match set the tone early at nib Stadium as both sides looked to begin the match on the front foot.
City’s first chance of the match came after 21 minutes as Nathaniel Atkinson failed to make he most of a shallow clearance. The skied effort from Jason Davidson saw Liam Reddy punch the ball on his goal-line as the young Tasmanian skied his effort from inside the six-yard box.
The visitors looked comfortable in possession and pressed Perth high up the park with Lachie Wales almost being the beneficiary of some sloppy passing out from the back by the Perth defence.
City continued to have the slight edge in the opening half and looked the better of the two sides heading into the break until Ikonomidis popped up to find the opener just before the break.
Perth’s drive into the penalty area saw two bobbles come off City defenders as yet another deflected cutback fell perfectly into the path of Ikonomidis to make no mistake from eight yards.
The late goal didn’t disheartened City as Warren Joyce’s side came out of the break on the front foot, looking to find the equaliser.
It was Perth however who would have the first chance of the second half as a deflected Diego Castro strike saw a sharp re-adjustment from Eugene Galekovic to force the custodian into a fine stop.
Things were made harder for City as Good received his second yellow attempting to keep the ball in play as he slid through the ball and Ivan Franjic.
City were unable to find the equaliser with the man disadvantage as they departed nib Stadium with nothing to show.
What’s next
City head to Adelaide for the second of their back-to-back away fixtures next Sunday night at Coopers Stadium (kick-off 7.00pm) before returning to AAMI Park for the massive Christmas Derby on Saturday 22 December.
