Melbourne City put a long week behind them – including a derby defeat and FFA Cup sorrow away at Perth – with a victory over Central Coast Mariners that ended a nine game winless streak against the team from Gosford. Patrick Kisnorbo’s headed goal was cancelled out by Nick Fitzgerald’s wonder strike in the first half, before Bruno Fornaroli netted a brace after the break, sealing the 3-1 win.
City had long desired a striker who looked like comfortably bagging double digits in a season…
… and it’s safe to say Bruno Fornaroli is that man. Melbourne City have had a chequered history when it comes to their number nines, with Maycon and Michael Mifsud failing to live up to expectations during their time at the club.
In Bruno Fornaroli they perhaps have the striker they have always craved, with the Uruguayan putting in a man-of-the-match display with two predatory goals epitomising the effectiveness of ‘El Tuna’ up front. The former Sampdoria striker reads the play well, does his fair share of the off-the-ball running, holds the ball efficiently and presents opposing defenders with a tricky proposition in their attempts to diminish his goalscoring threat. Six goals in six competitive games for the club has supporters believing their side has a number nine of the same calibre as that of their cross-town rivals have in Besart Berisha.
He may have been mulling over the decision to drop Paartalu…
… but John van’t Schip was at least vindicated in starting Melling. With plenty of competition for spots on offer, players have been put on notice. While Kisnorbo is back in favour with his manager after a tidy display in the heart of defence, the same could not be said for Erik Paartalu. Van’t Schip revealed post-game that the holding midfielder was dropped from the match day squad for tactical reasons, with poor performances in the early rounds of the season cited as a primary factor for his surprise omission.
The performance of Jacob Melling would have pleased the Dutchman and made it even harder for Paartalu to make an immediate return to the starting XI. Stefan Mauk also earned his first start of the season after a promising cameo off the bench last week, and like Melling impressed in the absence of marquee man Robert Koren – whose performances, let alone him status as a marquee, have been scrutinised for a while now.
They say defences win championships…
… and at this point City don’t quite have that just yet. The city coaching staff highlighted a much improved defensive effort as a must for this clash. They would have been pleased from what they saw from their two centre halves. On notice skipper Patrick Kisnorbo put in an assured display in the centre of defence, while Connor Chapman looked much more comfortable than he did in the derby loss to Victory.
However, much of the attacking problems created by the Mariners came from the flanks, with Paulo Retre looking suspect throughout the 90, as was his counterpart on the left Ben Garuccio, allowing Fabio Ferreira and Mitch Austin many of the Mariners’ best attacking forays on goal. While both are not natural fullbacks, the emergence of Matt Millar and the return from injury off the likes of Aaron Hughes, Ivan Franjic and Michael Zullo is desired considering some of the holes left at the back which on another day may have been punished more prolifically.
The kids are being given a chance…
… and they need to take their opportunities. The extended early season injury-crisis has provided many of City’s young fledglings game time in the senior team. The Round 3 encounter presented youngsters Stefan Zinni and Steve Kuzmanovski starting berths, and while the youngsters impressed, they’ll know that goals are needed from them given they are attacking outlets for John van’t Schip’s men.
Zinni had a perfect opportunity to open his A-League account but blazed his shot just wide off the post, while Kuzmanovski’s decision-making let him down at times. They were both withdrawn early on in the second half for David Williams and the fit-again Corey Gameiro. The former assisted Fornaroli for the second, while the latter looked dangerous throughout, highlighting the competition for places up for grabs in City’s attack.