Melbourne City FC prevailed 5-0 against Hume City on Tuesday evening.
International marquee Robert Koren debuted for Melbourne City FC as John van’t Schip’s side enjoyed a 5-0 friendly win over Hume City at Broadmeadows Valley Park on Tuesday evening.
First-half goals to David Williams and Patrick Kisnorbo were added to by substitutes Marc Marino, Stefan Mauk and triallist Stefan Zinni, handing Melbourne City FC a comfortable win against the National Premier Leagues (NPL) Victoria team.
After sustained pressure in the first half, Williams opened the scoring in the 24th minute with a clever header over oncoming Hume City ‘keeper Chris Oldfield, before Kisnorbo found himself one-on-one in the attacking half and coolly slotted the team’s second two minutes before the break.
Following a number of changes at break, substitute Marino, who earned a full-time NYL contract with the Club on Monday, added a third, with Mauk and Zinni rounding out the 5-0 scoreline.
van’t Schip fielded a strong team in the first stanza, with Koren featuring alongside Massimo Murdocca and Aaron Mooy in midfield, while a front three of Damien Duff, Williams and Paulo Retre, who also secured a senior deal on Monday.
van’t Schip retained a back four of Iain Ramsay, Kisnorbo, Wielaert and Jason Hoffman from last Tuesday night’s Westfield FFA Cup match, while Tando Velaphi was preferred in goal in the first half, before Andrew Redmayne donned the gloves in the second half.
Williams and Duff combined well in the opening exchanges, with Koren looking comfortable in an attacking midfield position.
As Melbourne settled following the early exchanges, Duff and Williams looked to threaten early, and the pair combined in the ninth minute, with the former Ireland international utilising his pace down the right flank.
Cutting in from the right on his preferred left foot, Duff made in-roads before executing a neat one-two with Williams but target Retre was closed down and his shot was blocked.
Williams and Koren had two shots blocked in quick succession following good build-up in the 12th minute before a swerving free-kick from near the left-hand corner from Mooy required the finger-tips of Oldfield to deny Melbourne the opener.
Koren struck a venomous effort into the side-netting on the 20-minute mark, but van’t Schip only had to wait a further four minutes before his side hit the lead.
Williams latched onto a long high ball from Robbie Wielaert, fearlessly throwing himself at the bouncing ball and heading over oncoming Hume keeper.
Williams connected first, but was cleaned up seconds later by Oldfield, but the ball trickled into an empty net and Melbourne took the lead as Williams recovered from the impact of the collision.
The striker could have doubled the score six minutes later on the half-hour mark as a marauding run from Hoffman down the right almost produced a goal.
Hoffman’s blistering pace beat two down the flank before he squared to Williams in the box, but while the forward buried the chance, the assistant raised his flag on the far side and the effort was rubbed out for offside.
The assault on Hume’s goal continued, and Koren’s neat one-two with Ramsay down the left almost presented another chance for Williams, who slid Koren’s cross wide of the target.
Duff then had a mis-hit cross tipped over by Oldfield in the 34th minute.
Hume threatened through a dangerous free kick on the right – won by Kliment Taseski following a foul from Aaron Mooy – with the follow-up free-kick from Taseski stinging the palms of Velaphi.
But Melbourne City FC tightened its grip on the match as Williams flicked on a ball to Kisnorbo, who had pushed forward in the final stages of the half, and the centre-back finished with aplomb past Oldfield.
Following a number of changes in the second half, youngsters Marino, Mauk and Zinni put the finishing touches to the performance.
Match Details
Pre-Season Friendly
Tuesday 19 August 2014
Hume City 0
Melbourne City FC 5 (Williams 24’, Kisnorbo 43’, Marino 58’, Mauk 60’, Zinni (T) 80’)
Broadmeadows Valley Park
Melbourne City FC Line-Up (First Half): Tando Velaphi, Jason Hoffman, Robbie Wielaert, Patrick Kisnorbo, Iain Ramsay, Massimo Murdocca, Aaron Mooy, Robert Koren, Damien Duff, David Williams, Paulo Retre
Melbourne City FC Line-Up (Second Half): Andrew Redmayne, Ross Archibald (T), Tom King (T), Jonatan Germano, Ben Garuccio, Iqi Jawadi (T), Stefan Mauk, Paulo Retre, Mate Dugandzic (C), Damien Duff, Marc Marino
Yellow Cards: Altuntas 16’ (Hume City ), Garuccio 76’ (Melbourne City FC)
Red Cards: Nil
