Melbourne City holds on as Brunswick pushes for first points
By James Manton
Melbourne City has managed to hold on for a 3-2 win against Brunswick City, in a pulsating affair on Saturday afternoon.
In a game of two vastly different halves, Melbourne City survived Brunswick's second-half barrage after being the superior team in the first.
There were few chances in the opening stages of the match, but Marc Marino only need one to give Melbourne the lead from a one-on-one situation after less than a quarter of an hour.
Not long afterwards, Wade Dekker doubled Melbourne City's lead as he poked the ball past Jack Dovey from a ball into the penalty area.
Juan Portillo's thunderbolt of a free-kick was close to opening Brunswick's tally, but it just floated over the crossbar.
Though just minutes later James Neighbour broke the drought for Brunswick as he placed the ball into the top corner after a scuffed clearance from the Melbourne City defence.
Brunswick burst out of the blocks in the second half, with Portillo equalising just minutes after the restart thanks to some excellent pressing from his team.
Only a couple of minutes later, Fasile Aden could have given Brunswick the lead as he chipped the onrushing keeper with a header, but the ball bounced just wide of the goals.
Brunswick's chances kept coming, as both Yach Bol and Portillo came close to taking the lead within minutes of each other.
However, against the run of play, Melbourne City reinstated its advantage in the 63rd minute as Dekker grabbed his second for the afternoon in a carbon copy move of his first goal.
Brunswick kept up the pressure and opportunities, with Portillo proving a menace as his pressing almost netted him a goal from a backpass, but his shot from a tight angle hit the side netting.
The last ten minutes were filled with opportunities for an equaliser - including three shots in a matter of seconds miraculously kept out of the net - but ultimately it never eventuated and Melbourne City ran out 3-2 victors.
MATCH DETAILS
Melbourne City 3 (Marino 13', Dekker 25' 63') defeated Brunswick City 2 (Neighbour 40', Portillo 49')
Melbourne City: 1. Yaren SOZER, 2. Tyler JAMES, 5. Leo ATHANASIOU, 6. Phil PETRESKI, 8. Ratip CILELI (18. Trey O'SULLIVAN 87'), 9. Wade DEKKER, 12. Anthony RIZK, 14. Baki EFE, 16. Matthew MILLAR, 19. Anthony TARANTO (17. Joseph MONEK 80'), 22. Marc MARINO (13. Nick MORTON 61')
Unused sub(s): 20. Jack WEST-ASTUFI, 21. Ali EIYGEN
Yellow card(s): Efe, Marino
Red card(s): Nil
Brunswick City: 34. Jack DOVEY, 29. Loukas AOUN, 23. Cameron WILLIAMS (8. George MARKELIS 90'), 39. James NEIGHBOUR, 60. Yach BOL, 35. Anthony IANCHELLO, 3. Michael VARKOPOULOS (27. Abdiqafar URUSHE 63'), 10. Juan PORTILLO, 28. Fasile ADEN, 52. Reha KURUL, 31. Jack CARMINATI (4. Yasin ABDULAHI 83')
Unused sub(s): 1. Christy BENNETT-SPARK, 77. Alessandro VERRATTI
Yellow card(s): Aden, Portillo
Red card(s): Nil
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