Despite being a worthy opponent at times, Central Coast continues its poor form with our City lads coming away with a deserved win. Going top of the league headlines the benefit of having a fit and firing squad playing the football we all remember from last season.
While our leaky defence continues to be the thorn in our side, it is truly our attack that continues to be the headline of our season, scoring another three goals against a quality side.
Another home win will do wonders for our confidence. In saying that, here is what we learned in our last home game of the month:
Go with the Flo
Dubbed as the most in-form player in the league, Florin Berenguer has proven his quality time and time again this season with his classy performances. While it is nice to have a classy player who can offer his silky touch and some tricky movements, Florin’s pure success rate must be his forte at the moment.
Consistently making key passes, offering support when needed and even popping the ball in the back of the net himself, our visa Frenchman has continued to show his worth. Last night’s performance just emphasised that. Between his decisive movements and lovely balls forward to Maclaren, Flo was able to orchestrate an intricate one-two, hold off his man, and slice the ball home.
An incredible gem of the Australian game, uncovered years ago, but finally polished into the player we see today.
Pure luck or poor officiating?
Normally, I would not be one to point out poor officiating (especially if we win), but this is a special case. The VAR was once brought in to be a clear and concise method to ensure the proper decision is made, but it has turned out to be nothing but a topsy-turvy circus, often leading to confusion and anger.
This time, we come away laughing with three points, but it is clear… the Mariners were robbed of at least a point, with both VAR decisions controversially going against the team in yellow.
I’m sure there will be plenty of dialogue regarding these issues over the coming week, but remember this City fans… we may be the next victim of VAR.
We keep on rising!
Top of the league (again)! The pressure is now on Western United and co. to keep up with the pace we're setting as we take a two-point lead over our cross-state cousins.
While our league position rises, our numbers increase as well, with City officially becoming club with both the best attack and worst defence this season; 29 goals for, 20 goals against.
This isn't to say that our defenders are not of a high-enough quality, nor are they not up to the challenge, but it is rather a complete lack of confidence and focus in key moments where we are finding our troubles. Central Coast had three shots on target last night, with two of them going in.
Something needs to change... Paddy Kisnorbo has an enormous job as we cannot venture into our first bout of continental football leaking goals like this.
Controversy, team goals, 100+ minutes of action… don’t you love football? We move onto a challenge shaded in sky-blue, taking on Sydney FC away on Saturday night. With the fixtures coming thick and fast until finals time, every point counts! Especially against Sydney…
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