CITY INTO MAIDEN GRAND FINAL
MELBOURNE City earned a place in its first A-League grand final when Socceroos striker Jamie Maclaren was on target once again in a 2-0 win over newcomers Western United.
The Golden Boot winner converted his own penalty in the 68th minute, before a late own goal to United’s Tomoki Imai ensured City finished 2-0 winners — and put an end to Western United’s fairytale finals run in its debut campaign.
United was in the ascendancy for much of the game, and Maclaren’s penalty came against the run of play.
City benefited from its extra week’s rest as secondplace finishers in the regular season.
The win extended City’s perfect record against its new Victorian rival, the knockout victory being the fourth win from four attempts against United. And Maclaren’s penalty added to an impressive individual record against United, having scored a brace in each of their past three meetings.
City move one step closer to its first piece of A-League silverware. The club is backed by the global might of the multi-club City Group (which includes Manchester City) but has only claimed one FFA Cup title in its history.
City defender Richard Windbichler said: “We want to achieve something big and we have the chance to do so on Sunday.”
United started the match brightly, despite its short turnaround from a 1-0 win in Sunday’s elimination final against Brisbane Roar.
Melbourne City struggled to maintain its defensive structures in what was its poorest start to a match since the competition resumed.
Things continued in the same fashion in the early part of the second stanza when Western United dominated.
But a couple of great saves from City keeper Tom Glover denied United a goal, before
Jamie Maclaren was brought down in the box by United defender Aaron Calver with 25 minutes to play.
Maclaren stepped up and buried the penalty into the bottom left corner.
Western failed to find what would have been a deserved goal considering its dominance throughout the match, and its chase was further dented when Tomoki Imai — a sterling centre-back for United this campaign — headed the ball into his own net from a City corner.