City Head Coach Warren Joyce was as cool, calm and collected as the rest of his post-match press conferences on Saturday night but made it clear that he was proud of his side’s efforts in the Melbourne Derby.
In Joyce’s first taste of the fixture, the Englishman guided his side to an important three points, rocketing to the summit of the A-League table and although it was only one fixture of the 25 left in the season, the Head Coach knew what a win like that means to the Club.
“The biggest thing for me was to come here tonight and not be bullied,” Joyce said.
“You’re coming to [play] a team here which made the Grand Final last year. We’re still a new side finding our feet, finding a way to dominate possession.
“The main objective was to come here tonight and to give the fans a performance they can be proud of and certainly not get bullied.”
City went up on the stroke of half-time through Marcin Budzinski before Bruce Kamau sealed the match after Leroy George’s equaliser but Joyce was pleased with how his side went about getting their result, showing the fundamentals worked on during the pre-season.
“I thought we had the better chances of the game and with more clinical finishing and better-quality passes in the final third around the box we had good opportunities,” he said.
“[Victory’s] goal was a poor goal from us; it was from our corner, breakaway goal and goals like that are avoidable … apart from that I don’t think they had too many shots on goal.
“You want everything in football; you want to dominate possession, pass the ball, pass it sweet, and be clever around the box and be decisive… you also want to know when to attack and counter and drive through with penetration and defend in a variety of ways… not just one dimensional.”
City return to AAMI Park this Saturday night as they face Wellington Phoenix at 5.35pm. Click here to get your tickets for the match and find out how you can redeem our kids go free offer!
