NOTES
- Melbourne City’s season opener was the Club’s first opening match of the season at home since the Club’s inaugural campaign in 2010.
- Six of Melbourne City’s off seasons signings made their competitive debut for the club; Iacopo La Rocca, Eugene Galekovic, Bart Schenkeveld, Ross McCormack, Marcin Budzinski and Scott Jamieson
- Stefan Mauk also made a return A-League debut for City after re-joining the Club in the pre-season
- Bruce Kamau secured his first brace for the club, scoring both of City’s match-winning strikes
- Friday night’s 2-0 win was Warren Joyce’s first match and first win in the A-League since taking the reigns as Melbourne City FC’s Head coach.
Summary
Hyundai A-League 2017/18 – Round 1
Friday 6 October 2017
Melbourne City FC 2 (Bruce Kamau 45’+1, 74’)
Brisbane Roar 0
HT: 1-0
Kick-off time: 7:50pm (AEDT)
Venue: AAMI Park
Referee: Jarred Gillett
Attendance: 9,589
Scoring Summary
1-0 45’ Bruce Kamau (Melbourne City FC)
2-0 74’ Bruce Kamau (Melbourne City FC)
Disciplinary Summary
Caution 21’ Manny Muscat (Melbourne City FC)
Caution 23’ Nicholas D’Agostino (Brisbane Roar)
Caution 47’ Fahid Ben Khalfallah (Brisbane Roar)
Caution 56’ Ross McCormack (Melbourne City FC)
Line-ups
Melbourne City FC: 2. Manny MUSCAT, 5. Bart SCHENKEVELD, 6. Osama MALIK, 7. Nick FITZGERALD, (3. Scott JAMIESON 82’), 11. Bruce KAMAU, 13. Stefan MAUK, (12. Braeydn Crowley 91’), 18. Eugene GALEKOVIC (GK), 22. Michael JAKOBSEN, 25. Lacopa LA ROCCA, 26. Luke BRATTAN, 44. Ross MCCORMACK, (27. Marcin BUDZINSKI 82’)
Substitutes not used: 1. Dean BOUZANIS (GK), 9. Marcello Curussca
Head Coach: Warren JOYCE
Brisbane Roar: 1. Michael THEO (GK), 5. Corey Brown, 6. Avraam Papadopoulos, (3. Luke DEVERE 89’) 9. Massimo MACCARONE, 13. Jade NORTH, 15. Fahid Ben KALFALLAH, (16. Mitchell OXBORROW 79’) 17. Matt MCKAY, 18. Joe CALETTI, 19. Jack HINGERT, 26. Nicholas D’AGOSTINO, (25. Rahmat AKBARI 83’), 33. Petros SKAPETIS
Substitutes not used: 21. Jamie YOUNG, 24. Connor O’Toole
Head Coach: John ALOISI
Statistics
Full match statistics – click here
Match recap
Melbourne City FC made the perfect start to the new A-League season as Bruce Kamau’s double secured a 2-0 win over Brisbane Roar at AAMI Park on Friday night.
Kamau, who wreaked havoc among the Brisbane defence all night alongside debutant Ross McCormack and the returning Stefan Mauk, fired City into the lead on the stroke of half-time with a well-placed finish from outside the area.
The winger then beat Michael Theo again fifteen minutes from time, poking the ball home via a deflection to ensure Warren Joyce’s start to life in the A-League began with an important three points.
It was a successful night at the office for City’s new boys. McCormack was lively throughout, as was Mauk in the middle of the park, while Iacopo La Rocca, Eugene Galekovic and Bart Schenkeveld displayed steel at the back on the way to a deserved clean sheet.
Full match recap – click here
Quotes
Head Coach Warren Joyce
On the result…
“We are just looking to get consistency. I think the last three games [including pre-season matches] we’ve been consistent in things we’ve done. We’ve kept three clean sheets and I don’t really think any of our opposition sides have had a real shot at goal in our last three games, and you need that platform to build off.
“It was widely reported about our poor performance against Sydney and you just have to bounce back and be consistent every day in training if you do that it gives you every chance of winning on game day so we will be looking to do that each week.
On the first half performance…
“It is widely documented as well that we have many different [players] at different stages of fitness and your actually throwing them together to try and prepare for a game on the weekend when some of them haven’t really played much football together. This week Ross arrived and has only had three training session with the players so again we are moulding a side that really hasn’t [played together].”
On Ross McCormack’s debut…
“Pleased with his contribution and pleased for his contribution to the second goal, he’s a good lad around the dressing room, a good pro, good with some of the younger players, or even the older players. He wants to come to play football, he wants to win and I think he’ll only get better from here on in.”
On the first match as Head Coach of Melbourne City FC…
“It’s obviously a new experience. Life is about experiences and testing yourself and challenging yourself and going into uncertainty and [I tried] to bring that consistency that maybe you’ve had in your own life and see if that can work in another country.
“I thoroughly enjoyed the night; it’s a big football club with a good fan base in a proper stadium, it’s just normal football for me, really.”
