Melbourne City FC midfielder Erik Paartalu said his side was still “stinging” after Sunday’s late drama against the Central Coast Mariners.
Paartalu — who scored his first goal for the Club against the Mariners — admitted it hurt to let a two goal lead slip after late drama saw Mariners snatch a draw in added time at AAMI Park.
“We’re still stinging a little bit,” Paartalu said on Monday.
“The boys are obviously disappointed with the way it finished.
“We started off really well and that’s the story of our season so far, starting well and not finishing games properly.
“It’s certainly something to build on this week and if anything it makes us hungry for the next game.”
Paartalu – who scored Melbourne’s second goal with a header from a Damien Duff corner – said his side were dominant for the majority of the match, but squandering chances to put the game beyond doubt in the second half.
However, instead of dwelling on the result, Paartalu was keen to look at the positives with the team building and progressing week on week.
“We’ve put in back-to-back performances and that the most pleasing thing,” Paartalu said.
“We had a lot of work on the training pitch this week and that’s why it was disappointing to come away with a draw.
“We worked on a lot of things from the Brisbane game and I thought we did that in spells yesterday. I think we go back to the drawing board, take the positives out the game and work towards Sydney.”
Paartalu said despite the result he was happy with his personal progress over the last two weeks, which has seen the midfielder well and truly establish himself at the Club.
“I’m delighted to get off the mark and it’s good to get my first goal for the Club,” Paartalu said.
“The Club is fantastic and the boys are great. The next step for this Club is to win football games and then we’ll enjoy it even more.”
