Melbourne City FC have shared the spoils with the top of the table Perth Glory on Friday afternoon as Aaron Mooy’s opener was cancelled out by Richard Garcia.
Melbourne City FC appeared to be heading towards their third consecutive victory when Mooy opened the scoring two minutes after half-time, only for Garcia to equalize in the 68th minute against his former side top secure a point for the table topping Glory.
Buoyed by a dramatic derby win against Victory last weekend, Melbourne City FC came firing out of the blocks, with the likes of David Williams, Jacob Melling and Aaron Mooy causing problems for the Glory defence.
The home side fashioned the first dangerous opportunity in the ninth minute after some nice play from returning defender Robbie Wielaert.
The Dutchman – replacing the injured Jason Hoffman – made an excellent foray down the right hand side and found Melling in space to shoot, but the midfielder’s shot was quickly charged down by some last-ditch Glory defending.
With the Glory content to sit back and absorb pressure on the counter attack, Melbourne City FC continued to look lively in the final third, with a crunching tackle from Melling dispossessing Glory captain Michael Thwaite and allowing David Williams to surge forward.
The striker then found Socceroos midfielder Aaron Mooy in space on the edge of the penalty area, who then expertly cut inside and unleashed a strike that was comfortably held by Danny Vukovic.
Glory had claims for a penalty in the 31st minute when Garcia went down theatrically under a challenge from Patrick Kisnorbo, but referee Alan Milliner waved away the appeals.
The home side continued to pile on the pressure and nearly opened the scoring in the 38th minute when Mooy’s teasing cross was spilled into the path of Wielaert by Vukovic, but the Dutchman could only fire straight at the recovering goalkeeper.
Vukovic was once again called into action just on the stroke of half time to hold on to a tame header from Iain Ramsay, with the Glory ‘keeper enjoying a fairly comfortable first half in between the posts.
It only took the home side two minutes after the restart to breathe some life into the Boxing Day clash when Williams surged forward and slipped a through pass to Mooy, who made no mistake and coolly slotted past Vukovic to give Melbourne City FC the lead.
There was panic in the Melbourne City FC defence in the 56th minute when Tando Velaphi spilled a teasing set-piece from Scott Jamieson, but Glory skipper Thwaite saw his overhead kick cleared off the line.
And the away side were level just after the hour mark when Jamieson’s cross found an unmarked Garcia in the area, who sent a downward header past the exposed Velaphi to make it 1-1.
Another dangerous set piece by Jamieson nearly saw the away side take the lead in the 67th minute, with the unmarked Dino Djulbic firing in a shot which was wonderfully saved by the right foot of Velaphi.
The introduction of key midfielders Robert Koren and Damien Duff for Melbourne City FC provided Melbourne City FC with a plethora of attacking options, while Danny Vukovic ensured the scores remained level when he acrobatically tipped over Mooy’s goal bound cross.
And the Glory shot- stopper had to be at his finest when he produced an excellent diving save to keep out Mooy’s left footed piledriver, after punching clear a dangerous corner from Duff.
Glory – who were unbeaten in their last eight Hyundai A-League fixtures prior to this match- continued to pose a threat to the Melbourne City FC defence, with Keogh’s goal bound header brilliantly blocked by the excellent Connor Chapman.
The Irishman continued to search for his eighth league goal of the season and was put through on goal by a lovely ball from Joshua Risdon, but he saw his shot smothered by the onrushing Velaphi.
Melbourne City FC had a chance to snatch a victory at the death, but Mooy’s set piece was cleared comfortably to ensure both sides left AAMI Park with a share of the spoils.
Match Details
Hyundai A-League Round 12
Sunday, 26 December 2014
Melbourne City FC 1 (Aaron Mooy 47′)
Perth Glory 1 (Richard GARCIA 62′)
HT: 0-0
Venue: AAMI Park, Melbourne
Referee: Alan Miliner
Attendance: 9,550
Melbourne City FC Line-Up: 20. Tando VELAPHI (GK), 3. Robbie WIELAERT, 4. Connor CHAPMAN, 5.Erik PAARTALU, 6. Aaron MOOY, 7. Iain RAMSAY, 15. David WILLIAMS (James BROWN 82′), 19. Benjamin GARUCCIO, 23. Mate Dugandzic (Damien DUFF 58′), 24. Patrick KISNORBO (C), 25. Jacob MELLING (Robert KOREN 69′)
Substitutes not used: 1. Andrew REDMAYNE (GK), 28. Liam MILLER
Yellow Cards: Kisnorbo 67′
Red Cards: Nil
Perth Glory Line-Up: 1. Daniel VUKOVIC (GK), 5. Roslyn GRIFFITHS, 6. Dino DJULBLIC, 8. Ruben ZADKOVIC, 9. Andrew KEOGH, 11. Richard GARCIA, 14. Chris HAROLD (Jack CLISBY 89′), 19. Joshua RISDON, 20. Daniel DE SILVA (Sidnei SCIOLA 69′), 21. Scott JAMIESON, 23. Michael THWAITE (C).
Substitutes not used: 18. Jack DUNCAN (GK), 3. Brandon O’NEILL, 15. Jamie MACLAREN
Yellow Cards: Garcia 63′
Red Cards: Nil
