Melbourne City has climbed to second place on the A-League ladder with yet another impressive performance, this time sweeping aside A-League newbies Macarthur FC to the tune of three goals to nil.
A quickfire brace to Jamie Maclaren got City off to a flying start, only for Craig Noone's brilliant individual goal to send fans into raptures a little later as the scoreline became 3-0 within the first 40 minutes. A professional second-half display ensured that Macarthur would be leaving AAMI Park empty-handed.
Here's what we learned following Melbourne City's fourth-consecutive league win:
We Have One of the League's Best Right-Backs:
As soon as Nathaniel Atkinson broke onto the A-League scene, you didn't have to be a genius to recognise that he had the talent to thrive at this level. Ever since his senior debut in the 2017/18 season - and despite his horrific injury in the same campaign - there's a fair case to suggest the youngster has never looked back.
Now that he's adding a bit more end-product to his adventurous runs from right-back, not to mention being part of an increasingly solid back four, he's comfortably in the conversation for the league's best right-back.
And who knows? A Socceroos call-up might not be too far away either.
Noone and Nabbout are So Dangerous on Either Flank:
It officially does not matter which wing these two are on, opposition full-backs are in for a tough day trying to stop them as this season progresses.
Macarthur defenders Antony Golec and Ivan Franjic had no answers to the constant pace and trickery that our two best wingers displayed yesterday, not to mention the flank-switching that only fuelled their frustration.
If I had to pick a personal highlight from their performances specifically, it'd have to be when Craig Noone sent Mark Milligan for a hot dog before calmly slotting in goal number three. That piece of skill was nothing but pure class.
Jamie Will Go Down as Better Than Bruno:
When the career of Jamie Maclaren at Melbourne City eventually comes to an end, the inevitable comparison to Bruno Fornaroli concerning our best striker of all time will come up, and you'd have to be a brave person to suggest that Maclaren won't emerge as number one.
Maclaren's two goals last night took his City total to 40 goals in 48 matches in all competitions, which is 11 goals shy of Fornaroli's City tally.
Keeping in mind that Fornaroli's sour exit from the club was a partially self-inflicted one, the title of this club's best striker is Jamie's to inherit.
Melbourne City will be hoping for five wins in a row next round when league-leaders Central Coast Mariners swing by AAMI Park. Despite the Mariners sitting pretty at the summit, there's needs to be a no-excuses approach for this match. Anything less than three points will be considered a disappointing result.
Couldn't fault one mention in this article and am quietly comfortable about our next challenge v CCM