- Tomer Hemed (39')
- Ulises Dávila (56')
- Curtis Good (17')
- Jamie Maclaren (45')
- Marco Tilio (83')
Melbourne City edge Wellington Phoenix in five-goal thriller
Melbourne City rediscovered their winning form with a 3-2 victory but only after Wellington Phoenix twice drew level in a hugely entertaining A-League contest.
Teenage substitute Marco Tilio grabbed the winner seven minutes from the end in a match littered with goalmouth scrambles and near-misses at Wollongong's WIN Stadium.
The win lifted last season's runners-up back into second, two points adrift of surprise leaders Central Coast Mariners.
It was a welcome return to the winners' circle for City after their defeat last Thursday against Western United had ended a run of six straight victories.
City could have put the match out of sight by the midway point but had to make do with a 2-1 margin at the interval as Curtis Good and Jamie Maclaren netted either side of a goal from import Tomer Hemed.
Phoenix's Oliver Sail was by far the busier of the two goalkeepers and he somehow made a crucial block from Craig Noone.
It proved a key moment as Mexican Ulises Davila drew the New Zealanders level just moments later, 11 minutes after the second half restart.
It was a minor miracle that Phoenix remained in the contest at half-time with Sail called into action on several occasions and City denied a strong penalty claim after Florin Berenguer went to ground.
Maclaren displayed his predatory penalty area instincts with a superb finish just on half-time, while Good had earlier opened the scoring by outmuscling the defence for a close-range header from a corner.
Israeli Hemed finished off a neat team move on 39 minutes to keep the Phoenix in the contest.
Then it was the turn of Davila to fire home with a slide-rule finish inside the far post after the break.
Suddenly, the scoreboard as well as the momentum was even.
Phoenix created several half-openings and gave City several nervy moments as the match flowed from end to end.
In the end though, it was 19-year-old Tilio who was involved in the decisive moment of the match by heading home Connor Metcalfe's cross.
Game Information
Australian A-League Men Standings
Team | GP | W | D | L | GD | P |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wellington Phoenix FC | 26 | 14 | 8 | 4 | +13 | 50 |
Central Coast Mariners | 25 | 15 | 4 | 6 | +18 | 49 |
Melbourne Victory | 26 | 10 | 12 | 4 | +11 | 42 |
Macarthur FC | 26 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 41 |
Sydney FC | 26 | 11 | 5 | 10 | +5 | 38 |
Melbourne City FC | 26 | 10 | 6 | 10 | +11 | 36 |
Western Sydney Wanderers | 26 | 10 | 4 | 12 | -5 | 34 |
Brisbane Roar | 26 | 8 | 6 | 12 | -12 | 30 |
Adelaide United | 25 | 8 | 5 | 12 | 0 | 29 |
Newcastle Jets | 26 | 6 | 10 | 10 | -6 | 28 |
Western United | 26 | 7 | 5 | 14 | -18 | 26 |
Perth Glory | 26 | 5 | 7 | 14 | -17 | 22 |