The 2021 NIVEA Men E-League season got underway on Friday night, representing City on PlayStation was MikeJFIFA in his E-League debut, Marcus Gomes taking the Xbox controller.
City were on fire early, comfortably winning in all of the first three rounds with MikeJ having a great start to his debut season.
It was then held to a draw in Round 4 against Adelaide, before suffering a tough loss to the top of the table Jets in the final round of the night.
5 massive rounds, filled with upsets, domination, and nail-biting draws 👀 @NewcastleJetsFC get the last laugh at the end of the NIVEA Men #ELeague Match Day 1!
GGs all round 👏👏👏👏👏@EASPORTSFIFAANZ
📺 https://t.co/CciJx3f6yD pic.twitter.com/MCxU5UA5In— E-League (@ELeagueAus) April 23, 2021
Round 1 – City 6-4 Victory
City’s E-League campaign got off to the perfect start with MikeJ first up, taking on Victory’s RickTran. A tight contest saw the game in the balance at 2-2 before an 86th-minute winner from TOTY Kylian Mbappe wrapped up the three points in City’s first game of the season.
After going down early, Gomes fought back hard to bring it back to 1-1 through TOTY Cristiano Ronaldo. A second for Ronaldo in the 29th-minute had City in the lead, Pele popping up in the second half to make it three for the game as Gomes took the eventual win 3-2 and a comfortable win for City on aggregate.
hope you all enjoyed my reactions 😂
i’m just trying to have some fun haha https://t.co/001BFPnkpi— MARCUS (@MarcusGomes) April 23, 2021
Round 2 – City 11-2 Macarthur
If MikeJ’s debut E-League match wasn’t already a strong enough performance, he seriously took it up a notch in Round 2. Four goals to R9 headlined a huge 6-0 victory with TOTY Ronaldo and Ruud Gullit also on the scoresheet.
.@MikeJFIFA has been 𝙤𝙣 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚 over the first two rounds 🔥🔥🔥#CmonCity | #ELeague https://t.co/RcSCWvSQyu
— Melbourne City FC (@MelbourneCity) April 23, 2021
Jamie Maclaren scored his first of the night early as Gomes carried on in a similar vein to his teammate’s earlier performance. R9 doubled the advantage before a frantic end to the first half saw three goals scored – two to City one to Macarthur. The Bulls’ brought it back to 3-2 with 20 minutes to play but a strong finish from Gomes ensured it ended 5-3.
Round 3 – City 7-4 Central Coast
MikeJ continued his strong run in Round 3, getting things off to a good start for City with a 4-2 result. Despite going down 0-1, City fought hard to come away with the points, Pele scoring all four goals.
Gomes was made to work hard in his match-up but did start strongly with R9 and TOTY Bruno Fernandes both scoring first-half goals. Central Coast come out full of steam in the second half, pulling it back to 2-1 before R9 had his second. A late Mariners goal brought it back to 3-2 but City were good enough to hold on for a deserved win.
all smiles so far over in the city camp! pic.twitter.com/2YVndawehT
— MARCUS (@MarcusGomes) April 23, 2021
Round 4 – City 2-2 Adelaide
It was business as usual for MikeJ in Round 4, and after a tight start to the clash against the Reds, City were able to strike twice before the half-time whistle through TOTY Ronaldo and TOTY Mbappe. Perhaps a surprise after City had 5 shots on target to none before the break, United quickly scored in the second half to drag it back to 2-1, but City were good enough to hold on and win by that scoreline.
It was a tight encounter all game over on the Xbox with just two shots in the opening half, both falling to Adelaide. Both defence’s were at the top of their game throughout the match, but it was Adelaide who were able to break through, winning 1-0 and tieing things up on aggregate as City dropped its first points of the night.
Round 5 – City 4-7 Newcastle
The night didn’t end the way MikeJ would’ve hoped as he suffered his first loss of his E-League career, City going down by a goal to the Jets in the Playstation leg despite have a couple more shots on target.
A goal down on aggregate, there was plenty of work to do for Gomes to try and get City the win and ensure it finished matchday 1 on top of the table.
A breakthrough couldn’t be found in the first 45, a tense opening half ending the way it started at 0-0. It took until the 58th minute but Newcastle struck first – taking their lead up to two goals on aggregate. TOTY Mbappe answered soon after for City, only for the Jets to strike back and restore the advantage, scoring once more before the final whistle to run out winners.
Matchday 2 is on Saturday night and our City boys will be looking to continue their scintillating start and bring home our first E-League title! Click here to tune in via Twitch from 1.45pm!
