Melbourne City FC has suffered a disappointing 3-0 loss on the road to Western Sydney Wanderers at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night.
Oriol Riera opened the scoring for the home side with a spot kick in the 35th minute after Rostyn Griffiths fouled Kwame Yeboah in the area.
In the 53rd minute, Mitchell Duke made it 2-0 before Riera secured his brace and the points with a late strike.
City will look to bounce back when they return to AAMI Park in Round 24, hosting Brisbane Roar on Friday 5 April, kick-off 7:50pm.
Team News
Head Coach Warren Joyce made two changes to the starting XI as Curtis Good replaced injured captain Scott Jamieson, while Florin Berenguer returned from injury in place of Jamie Maclaren who missed the trip following a mild concussion suffered late in the week.
Australian U23’s Riley McGree and Lachlan Wales returned to the squad, named alongside Mark Birighitti on the bench, who returned from illness.
Our team is in for tonight's clash with the Wanderers! #WSWvMCY pic.twitter.com/47L6QIkv4l
— Melbourne City FC (@MelbourneCity) March 30, 2019
What happened?
In cool conditions at ANZ Stadium, it was City who looked to control proceedings in the early stages of the match.
Without his strike partner Jamie Maclaren next to him, Shay Harrison looked lively in the opening quarter of an hour, having City’s best chance of the first-half in the 11th minute. Kearyn Baccus did well on the wing before laying the ball off to the 21-year-old, who fired a brilliant effort towards goal, only to be denied by a super save from Wanderers shot-stopper Vedran Janjetovic.
City midfielder Rostyn Griffiths did exceptionally well to deny Western Sydney the opener on the 20th minute mark, before conceding a 33rd minute penalty after it was deemed that he fouled Yeboah in the area. Oriol Riera stepped up to take, sending Eugene Galekovic the wrong way with a composed finish in to the bottom corner.
Looking determined to find a way back into the match, the team in City blue came out of the blocks firing in the second-half. Within two minutes of kick-off, Bart Schenkeveld found Harrison Delbridge, although the defender’s towering header was just wide. Moments later, Ritchie De Laet tried his luck, firing a low drive from the edge of the box, scraping the outside of Janjetovic’s right post – much to the keeper’s delight.
A swift counter following a turnover in City’s attacking half saw Mitch Duke make it 2-0 in favour of the hosts in the 53rd minute, after he met Llorente’s well weighted pass towards the back post.
With momentum well and truly with the hosts, City struggled to find a way back into the contest and were dealt a third blow when Riera secured his brace and the three points for the Wanderers with a well-timed strike in the 84th minute.
What’s next?
After two consecutive trips to Sydney, City return to Melbourne in Round 24, hosting Brisbane Roar on Friday 5 April, kick-off 7:50pm.
