Melbourne City FC will be in action for one last time before the 2020/21 A-League Finals Series kicks off when it takes on Newcastle Jets at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium.
This match was originally scheduled for Saturday 29 May at AAMI Park but had to be postponed due to Melbourne’s current lockdown, then was re-scheduled and moved to New South Wales to allow City as much preparation time as possible for its Semi Final next Friday.
The clash
City will be looking to record its first win since being crowned Premiers when it takes on Newcastle on Thursday night.
With the Premiers Plate already secured and another short turnaround to deal with, Head Coach Patrick Kisnorbo made plenty of changes to his XI against Brisbane, the fixture ending in a 0-3 loss to the visiting City side.
The City boys were most recently in action on Sunday, and while that match did see the return of a number of regulars such as Scott Jamieson, Aiden O’Neill and Rostyn Griffiths, opportunities were still provided to youngsters.
17-year-old attacker Raphael Borges Rodrigues made his first A-League start while 15-year-old striker Max Caputo – currently leading the NPL3 Golden Boot – made his A-League debut.
A big congratulations to 15-year-old Max Caputo who has been subbed on for his @ALeague debut! #CmonCity | #MelbDerby | #ALeague pic.twitter.com/F32VLAuVIh
— Melbourne City FC (@MelbourneCity) June 6, 2021
A 54th minute own goal looked set to be enough to secure the three points for City before Lleyton Brooks popped up with a late equaliser for Victory.
With this the last fixture before our Semi Final, Kisnorbo and City looking to finish on a strong note and be prepared to ensure the ‘toilet seat’ joins the Premiers Plate at City Football Academy.
City fans won’t have to cast their memories back too far to remember the last meeting between these teams, given we hosted them at AAMI Park just over a month ago.
A comfortable win at home last night now sees your City boys four points clear on top of the table.
📺 Catch up on all of the highlights from the 3-1 win over the Jets. 👇#CmonCity pic.twitter.com/RF1UBiPcPp
— Melbourne City FC (@MelbourneCity) April 30, 2021
Andrew Nabbout, Scott Jamieson and Jamie Maclaren were all on the scoresheet for City, with Steven Ugarkovic pulling one back late to get a little respectability into the eventual 3-1 score line.
Although the Jets do sit at the opposite end of the table to City, don’t expect Kisnorbo and co. to be taking them lightly, especially given we’ve already seen the threats they can pose firsthand, having defeated us in Newcastle earlier this season.
Team News
City fans will be excited to see Andrew Nabbout and Nathaniel Atkinson return to City’s squad, the pair both a chance to make their first appearance after a period on the sidelines due to an adductor and hamstring injury respectively. Stefan Colakovski has also been included after missing the Club’s last fixture due to soreness.
1.Tom GLOVER (gk), 2.Scott GALLOWAY, 3.Scott JAMIESON (c), 4.Nuno REIS, 7.Rostyn GRIFFITHS, 8.Aiden O’NEILL, 10.Florin BERENGUER-BOHRER, 13.Nathaniel ATKINSON, 14.Naoki TSUBAKI, 15.Andrew NABBOUT, 16.Taras GOMULKA, 17.Stefan COLAKOVSKI, 19.Ben GARUCCIO, 20.Adrian LUNA, 23.Marco TILIO, 33.Matthew SUTTON (gk) 35.Raphael BORGES RODRIGUES, 39.Anthony LESIOTIS, 43.Alec MILLS, 49.Max CAPUTO.
In: 13.Nathaniel ATKINSON (returns from injury), 15.Andrew NABBOUT (returns from injury), 17.Stefan COLAKOVSKI (returns from injury).
Out: 5.Daniel GEORGIEVSKI (end of injury replacement period).
Unavailable: 9. Jamie MACLAREN (national team duty), 11. Craig NOONE (rested – soreness), 18.Connor METCALFE (national team duty), 22.Curtis GOOD (national team duty).
Match Details
A-League Round 24
Melbourne City FC v Newcastle Jets
Thursday 10 June, 7.05pm kick-off
Netstrata Jubilee Stadium (behind closed doors)
