CITY INSIDER
MELBOURNE CITY FC vs WESTERN UNITED SATURDAY 16 JANUARY, 2021 KICK-OFF 7.05PM
MELBOURNE CITY v WESTERN UNITED
CITY INSIDER SATURDAY 16 JANUARY
CAPTAIN’S MESSAGE TONIGHT WE FINALLY RETURN TO AAMI PARK FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE MARCH LAST YEAR, AND THE BOYS ARE ABSOLUTELY BUZZING AND CAN’T WAIT TO PLAY IN FRONT OF OUR HOME CROWD ONCE AGAIN. Unfortunately I won’t be out there with the boys due to my suspension. I let the players, staff and the fans down with my actions and I take full responsibility. My focus since then has been working hard on the training pitch as always in helping the team prepare for this game and looking forward to being available for selection once again. Before our Adelaide match, we got our season off to a great start with an 0-1 win away from home against the Roar. It was a very hard-fought win in tough conditions and it was exactly the way we were looking to start off the new season. We’ve had a few new faces join us this season and I can tell you that they have all settled in perfectly and are loving their time at City so far. There has been plenty of quality group and we have already seen from the new signings early in are excited to see what they continue to grow together and remainder of season 2020/21.
brought into the some good signs the season. We can do as we kick on for the
Tonight we face Western United and I can’t begin to tell you how excited the boys are to be playing once again at AAMI Park and in front of you – our amazing fans! It’s been a tough time for everyone in Melbourne but it’s great now that we can all be back together and have you back in the stands cheering us on, it simply just wasn’t the same without you! I know the guyys are going to give it everything they’ve got tonight to make sure we walk away with the three points and you are leaving AAMI Park with a smile on your face. Scott Jamieson Melbourne City FC captain
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MELBOURNE CITY v WESTERN UNITED
CITY INSIDER SATURDAY 16 JANUARY
CITY TO CONTINUE
WESTERN FORM
AFTER AN INAUGURAL SEASON THAT IMPRESSED THE LEAGUE, THE SORE POINT IN WESTERN UNITED’S INTRODUCTION TO THE A-LEAGUE WAS ITS PERFORMANCES AGAINST MELBOURNE CITY AND PATRICK KISNORBO’S MEN WILL LOOK TO CONTINUE THEIR PLIGHT ON SATURDAY NIGHT. It’s been a long time coming but we are finally back home at AAMI Park! It has been 308 days since we last were in action at home but tonight we will be taking on Western United in our first home match of season 2020/21. We started our campaign with two away trips, first off came a 0-1 win against Brisbane Roar. Connor Metcalfe’s curling second half strike got us over the line in tough conditions at Dolphin Stadium. Unfortunately we weren’t able to take any points from our second and most recent fixture, going down 0-2 in Adelaide. Tonight Patrick Kisnorbo’s men will be back in action and will be extremely hungry to get back on the winners list.
We are yet to taste defeat against Western United, winning all four of our match-ups last season which was Western’s first in the A-League. Striker Jamie Maclaren particularly loved these fixtures, scoring seven goals, including braces in three of the four matches. Maclaren is yet to get off the mark this season so hopefully he will be able to return to the form that saw him win the 2019/20 Golden Boot and cause havoc for Western’s defence every time they faced off. We this week will welcome back Adrian Luna from suspension after he picked up two yellow cards in the Club’s season opener. This will leave Kisnorbo with a selection headache in midfield with Olyroos Connor Metcalfe and Aiden
O’Neill both impressing in City’s first two games while Florin Berenguer returned from injury against Adelaide to replace Luna. While it has been almost two weeks since City last took to the pitch, it has been even longer for Western United who haven’t been in action since the A-League season opener on December 28. That night they played out a scoreless draw with Adelaide United in what was a pretty even contest. With both teams having so long between games and uncertainty in how the fixture will looks in the weeks and months to come, expect both teams to come out firing tonight.
DANGER PLAYER
SEASON STATS - WESTERN UNITED
A-LEAGUE PREVIEW
ALESSANDRO DIAMANTI The 17-time capped Italian showed no signs of dropping off last season, despite being 37 years of age. He still possesses plenty of quality and creativity, and that showed when he took home last season’s Johnny Warren Medal. Now in his second A-League season Diamanti will be looking to drive his team forward and cause headaches for a City defence that will have to be on its toes. Despite Western United losing every fixture against City last season, Diamanti was still dangerous and scored in the round 13 clash.
0
0
GOALS WON
GOALS CONCEDED
0
8
GAMES WON
LEAGUE POSITION
A-LEAGUE LADDER
LAST RESULT
LAST TIME WE MET
WESTERN UNITED
0
MELBOURNE CITY
2
ADELAIDE
0
WESTERN UNITED
0
A-League 2020/21 - Match Week 1 Monday 28 December, 2020 GMHBA Stadium
VIDEO HIGLIGHTS
A-League 2019/20 - Semi Final Wednesday 26 August, 2020 Bankwest Stadium
VIDEO HIGLIGHTS
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MELBOURNE CITY v WESTERN UNITED
CITY INSIDER SATURDAY 16 JANUARY
FROM BURNLEY TO ‘BURN CITY
A FOOTBALLING JOURNEY THAT YOU’D EXPECT FROM A SEASONED JOURNEYMAN, AT 22, AIDEN O’NEILL HAS SEEN SO MUCH IN FOOTBALL SO FAR BUT THE OLYROO BELIEVES THE BEST IS YET TO COME. Melbourne City’s A-League squad has remained very similar to last year, highlighting the stability amongst the group, but there has still been a handful of quality players brought in to the boost the squad. One of these names is Aiden O’Neill who has been rock solid in midfield over his first couple of appearances in a City shirt. Despite still being just 22 years old, O’Neill has already achieved more in his career than most players ever will. The Brisbane-born O’Neill remained in that area growing up and played his junior football for Kenmore and Brisbane Athletic. O’Neill was always determined to pursue his dream and moved over to England as a teenager in order to make it happen. In 2016 he signed with Burnley and a little over eight months later, he had made his Premier League debut as an 18-year-old. After making a handful of first team appearances in his time at Burnley, O’Neill was loaned to Oldham
Athletic, the team now managed by Socceroos legend Harry Kewell. He made 15 appearances in his time there and was then loaned to fellow League One team Fleetwood Town where he made 27 appearances in the 2017/18 season and scored his first professional goal. It was a big 2017 for O’Neill who received his first Olyroos call up and made his debut in a 1-1 draw against Austria. He has since appeared six times and is right in the mix for Olympics selection later this year. O’Neill returned to his home country ahead of the 2018/19 season when he signed for Central Coast. Playing mostly as a defensive midfielder in his first A-League season, O’Neill was still able to get himself on the scoresheet four times. His final stop before joining City was in fact in his home city of Brisbane, where he played for the Roar in the 2019/20 A-League season. O’Neill made the move to
Melbourne to join City in September and he said he believed it was the best path to take despite other interest. “City had interest in me for the last couple of years and I’d been offered a new deal at Burnley which I didn’t want to take as I saw a better pathway here at City,” O’Neill said. Having now spent a bit of time at the Club, O’Neill said he is enjoying himself but was initially taken aback by the intensity of training. “Learning a new style of play has been difficult but it is something I am really enjoying,” he said, “The intensity at training I would say is the highest I’ve ever seen and it really does help you to improve.” “Whenever we would used to come to AAMI Park to play City I would always feel like they were just on top of us the whole time and now I can see why – because it is exactly the way they train.” O’Neill has been one of City’s most impressive players through the opening rounds and he will be looking to continue his form tonight
KEY STATS - AIDEN O’NEILL A-LEAGUE SEASON 2020/21 MATCHES PLAYED
2
PASS SUCCESS %
89
SHOTS ON TARGET
2
KEY PASSES
2
MATCH SQUADS
HEAD COACH: PATRICK KISNORBO
MELBOURNE CITY FC
1. TOM GLOVER
2. SCOTT GALLOWAY
3. SCOTT JAMIESON
7. ROSTYN GRIFFITHS
8. AIDEN O’NEILL
9. JAMIE MACLAREN
10. FLORIN BERENGUER
11. CRAIG NOONE
13. NATHANIEL ATKINSON
14. NAOKI TSUBAKI
15. ANDREW NABBOUT
16. TARAS GOMULKA
17. STEFAN COLACOVSKI
18. CONNOR METCALFE
19. BEN GARUCCIO
20. ADRIAN LUNA
22. CURTIS GOOD
23. MARCO TILIO
33. MATT SUTTON
35. RAPHAEL BORGES RODRIGUES
36. KERRIN STOKES
37. BERNADO OLIVEIRA
38. JORDAN BOS
42. AHMED TALEB
1 30
FILIP KURTO RYAN SCOTT
2 3 4 5 6 13 19 22
AARON CALVER BRENDAN HAMILL ANDREW DURANTE DYLAN PIERIAS TOMOKI IMAI IVAN VUJICA JOSH RISDON TOMISLAV USKOK
10 14 17 20 21 23 27 29
STEVEN LUSTICA MAX BURGESS JOSH CAVALLO VICTOR SANCHEZ SEBASTIAN PASQUALI ALESSANDRO DIAMANTI JERRY SKOTADIS AYOM MAJOK
7 8 11 12 26 33
BESART BERISHA LACHLAN WALES CONNOR PAIN STEFAN ZINNI NICOLAS MILANOVIC APOSTOLOS STAMATELOPOULOS
HEAD COACH: MARK RUDAN
WESTERN UNITED
MELBOURNE CITY v WESTERN UNITED
CITY INSIDER SATURDAY 16 JANUARY
REDEMPTION SUNDAY
FOR CITY W-LEAGUE IN WHAT WAS THE CLUB’S HEAVIEST DEFEAT IN W-LEAGUE HISTORY, THE CHANCE FOR REDEMPTION WILL COME SOONER RATHER THAN LATER FOR RADO VIDOSIC’S SIDE AS THEY FACE THEIR CITY RIVALS ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON. We will be out to put in a much better tomorrow in the W-League when we once again take on Melbourne Victory, this time at Epping Stadium. We faced off against the same opponent last week but unfortunately it was far from the result we wanted to see. Victory held a 0-2 lead at half time and although we had some early chances on goal in the second half, we couldn’t find the back of the net. This left the door open for Victory to push on and that they did, doing plenty of damage in the final 20 minutes to come away with a big win. One of the positives of the fixture situation at the moment is we have an immediate chance to improve and put in a much better
performance tomorrow. Despite the squad being young, it was an uncharacteristic performance that was nothing like our opening two W-League fixtures. We fought out a gritty scoreless draw in Brisbane in round 1, and a Nikki Flannery last second thunderbolt was all that kept us from securing a point away to Canberra a week later. Although the off-season saw some departures of some big names, we also saw the arrival of some quality signings with Matildas Jenna McCormick, Alex Chidiac and Teagan Micah joining the Club, along with American defender Sam Johnson and Japanese midfielder Chinatsu Kira. These players all had their
preparations to the season interrupted after having to quarantine upon arrival in Australia. The gap between the youth, such as midfielder Sarah Cain and defender Tori Tumeth, and these experienced aforementioned names is being bridged every week as the squad spends more and more time training together and getting to know each other. Captain Emma Checker is still yet to play this season as she is still sidelined by a stress fracture sustained during her time in France but expect her to provide a big boost when she returns in the coming weeks. Tomorrow’s match will kick off at 4.05pm and will be live on the ABC, Fox Sports and streaming on Kayo and the My Football Live app.
DANGER PLAYER
SEASON STATS - MELBOURNE VICTORY
W-LEAGUE PREVIEW
LISA DE VANNA De Vanna is widely recognised as one of the greatest Matildas players of all time, having made 150 appearances for her country. She also is a W-League veteran and is currently in the first season of her third stint at Melbourne Victory. She was able to find plenty of space last Sunday and also found the back of the net so City’s defenders well be well and truly aware of the dangers she poses and will be ready to stop her.
1
0
GAMES WON
GOALS CONCEDED
6
4
GOALS SCORED
LEAGUE POSITION
W-LEAGUE LADDER
LAST RESULT
LAST TIME WE MET
MELBOURNE CITY
0
MELBOURNE CITY
0
VICTORY
6
VICTORY
6
W-League 2020/21 - Match Week 3 Monday 28 December, 2020 CB Smith Reserve
VIDEO HIGLIGHTS
W-League 2020/21 - Match Week 3 Monday 28 December, 2020 CB Smith Reserve
VIDEO HIGLIGHTS
MELBOURNE CITY v WESTERN UNITED
CITY INSIDER SATURDAY 16 JANUARY
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