Jamie Maclaren scores on debut to rescue a point for Melbourne City
Star signing Jamie Maclaren made the perfect start to life at Melbourne City with a debut goal, which rescued a crucial point, but there are concerning signs it top-three prospects.
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Star signing Jamie Maclaren made the perfect start to life at Melbourne City with a debut goal, which rescued a crucial point for his new boss.
Adelaide United’s in-form Craig Goodwin opened the scoring after his header narrowly cleared the goal line after coming off the crossbar.
Maclaren’s second-half finish was the highlight of a lacklustre affair in front of 6569 at AAMI Park, albeit pivotal as it ensured fifth-place City stays within two points of United entering the last nine rounds.
“The group showed some good spirit, we didn’t start particularly smooth,” City coach Warren Joyce said.
“All things considered I think they (new signings) done really well. He (Maclaren) can score all types of goals — it’s a good start for him, hopefully the little cramp in his calf is nothing serious.
“We want to win every single game we play. The focus is on that and we’ll see how far that gets us in the league, and go into finals with momentum.”
NEW BOY I
Socceroo Maclaren was signed to score goals and that’s exactly what he did.
He played a key role in the lead up to the goal, helping force United into a turnover by leading City’s high press, though keeper Paul Izzo was careless ahead of his howler.
Luke Brattan stopped on the ball, looked up and with ample time, found Maclaren via a low cross and slight deflection, with the striker cleverly backheeling it into the net.
Maclaren otherwise toiled but was feeding off scraps, as it will clearly take time for him and his new teammates to find chemistry.
But he has clearly made an impact in the changeroom, with all nine outfield teammates surrounding Maclaren after his goal.
Maclaren came off on 84 minutes, having signaled to the bench moments earlier, although it did not appear serious.
NEW BOY II
In terms of all-round contribution, Shayon Harrison made the biggest impact of the new boys, primarily in the first half.
The Tottenham youth product was canny in finding pockets of space and then used his fast feet and trickery, laying off for Maclaren and Luke Brattan in the first half, with both strikes whisking just past the upright.
Harrison played off Maclaren’s shoulder as he dropped deep to become the link up player. Like the Socceroo, Harrison and his teammates will only improve as they become familiar with each others’ weaknesses and strengths.
PATCHWORK
It’s difficult seeing City finishing inside the top three if they continue their tendency of plugging round holes with square pegs.
Admittedly it’s challenging in the salary cap environment, with Rostyn Griffiths’ late omission compounding Kearyn Baccus’ suspension after Osama Malik departed for Saudi Arabia.
Curtis Good performed admirably in holding midfield, but he hasn’t played in the middle since his junior days and they lose too much offensive impetus.
Late sub Riley McGree, who’s best position is box-to-box midfield despite playing out wide for much of the season, would have appeared to be a better fit alongside Brattan as the midfield anchor, but Joyce revealed that McGree had not trained all week.
OLD BOY DAMAGE
Craig Goodwin, who made one of the great A-League debuts on this ground seven years ago for Melbourne Heart, haunted his former club.
His well-timed run into the box was rewarded by some classic wing play from Nikola Mileusnic, whose clever jinx threw Harrison Delbridge off balance before he floated a perfect ball into the box for Goodwin to head in.
Mileusnic was stretchered off in the second half after landing awkwardly.
Adelaide coach Marco Kurz cut a frustrated figure walking down the tunnel at the final whistle, knowing they’d blown a great chance to create a buffer in fourth.
Originally published as Jamie Maclaren scores on debut to rescue a point for Melbourne City
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