Melbourne City FC FNYL Head Coach Joe Palatsides praised his young chargers on Sunday night as they defeated Melbourne Victory 2-1 at CB Smith Reserve in Fawkner.
Replicating the senior side’s scoreline in the youth Melbourne Derby triumph, Palatsides said that although his side were under immense pressure in the second half, the resilience of his side to grind it out and find a late winner was testament to their winning attitude.
“We played Victory a month ago and we made a lot of mistakes and a few errors and we worked on that during the week,” Palatsides said.
“It was a pleasure to see in the first half, they really concentrated on their roles in the team and I thought we dominated in that period and created those chances and it was the type of football we want to play.
“It’s a resilient group now and on the back of last year’s championship, they grew to another level, the boys ended up getting their winning attitude and mentality and that’s very important as a footballer.”
City took the lead early in the first half through Chris Cristaldo but were pegged back by Victory after the break. It was left up to substitue Nicholas Gonzalez to find the winner, tapping in from a Stefan Zinni cutback, and the FNYL Head Coach was pleased to see an unlikely name on the scoresheet.
FNYL Report: Melbourne City 2-1 Melbourne Victory
It was great to see Nick (Gonzalez) score,” he said.
“For youth football team, we try and share it around a bit because we want them to have the experience and be challenged in all situations. It was really a good team performance we’re happy about.”
City sit second in Conference A of the Foxtel National Youth League with two matches remaining.
