Melbourne City will continue their march towards retaining the Westfield FFA Cup trophy on Tuesday night as they face Hakoah Sydney City East in the Round of 16.
The Clash
Despite it being another David vs Goliath battle in the cup competition, the gap in this match up will be considerably less to that of our Round of 32 opponents, Peninsula Power.
City’s pre-season form hit a speed bump last week, going down to the Newcastle Jets at CFA Melbourne.
A first half blitz from the Jets secured the result for the full-strength visitors and Warren Joyce’s side will be looking to make amends in the FFA Cup.
Hakoah finished mid-table on the New South Wales NPL ladder in what some would argue is the best league below the A-League (not us, we’re Victoria all the way!).
Despite their league finish, it has been the cup competition where Hakoah has excelled this season and Tuesday night might show us why they are NSW (Waratah) Cup winners.
One thing Hakoah won’t have up their sleeve is competitive match practice with their regular season finishing weeks ago and as member federation sides progress to the final stages of the competition, they will find it harder and harder to maintain match fitness as the A-League sides ramp up their pre-season.
Team News
Warren Joyce has added new signing Bart Schenkeveld to the extended squad to take on Hakoah. See the full Team News here.
The Last Time
The two foes have not faced each other in the past but we’ll look at their progression to the Round of 16.
City made it through the first round of the competition with a 2-0 win over Brisbane Premier League side Peninsula Power.
Goals on the stroke of half-time and full-time secured the result for City in what was a rough and tumble match at Dolphin Stadium.
It was goals galore for Hakoah on the other hand as they played out the highest scoring match in FFA Cup history. Their 6-3 win over fellow New South Wales side Hills Brumbies saw them come from behind three times before powering home in extra time to secure their passage to the next round.
What was said
City Head Coach Warren Joyce
“You don’t know as much as you would like to know about the opposition coming into these fixtures, but we just have to concentrate on ourselves and ensure that we are doing everything right in the build up to this game and the coming season”
Hakoah keeper Anthony Bouzanis
“Dean and I have been dreaming of this since the competition began. When the draw took place, I was watching it at home with dad. Our [Hakoah] name came out of the pot and when City’s name was drawn out also, I was ecstatic. I got straight on the phone to Dean; we didn’t even say anything, we just laughed. It was a dream come true for both of us.”
Where and When
City take on Hakoah Sydney City East on Tuesday night at Leichhardt Oval, kick-off 7.30pm. For those travelling to the match, tickets will be available at the gate
How to Watch
The match will only be broadcasted on Fox Sports live stream. For details on how to watch the stream and Foxtel and the Herald Sun’s digital subscription, click here.
You can also follow the match on Twitter with live updates from our official account @MelbourneCity and via the hashtag #HAKvMCY
