A-League Men: Melbourne City superstar Jamie Maclaren on track to make history

Socceroos superstar Jamie Maclaren is back on Aussie soil and in the form of his life for Melbourne City.

The reigning champions now sit second on the A-League ladder, trailing only Western United. Picture: Ashley Feder/Getty Images

Jamie Maclaren is in that scoring mood again and he‘s charging towards another record-breaking season.

Maclaren continued his sensational hot streak, making it seven straight games with a goal – for both club and country – by bagging a brace in Melbourne City‘s impressive 4-2 win over Newcastle.

The City striker is now outright first in the Golden Boot standings with seven goals this season – shooting clear of Socceroos teammate Craig Goodwin and Newcastle‘s Beka Mikeltadze – both of whom he was tied with heading into Tuesday night’s game.

The 28-year-old holds the most A-League Men’s Golden Boot titles with three, winning his first in the 2016/17 season with Brisbane Roar before securing back-to-back crowns for Melbourne in 2019/20 and 2020/21.

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Should he be the first player to win three in a row, Maclaren will also become the only four-time Golden Boot winner in league history.

“He is fantastic, he has a smell for goal and he is a fantastic player,” City assistant coach Petr Kratky said.

“We are happy he bounced back and scored goals for us and even for the national team, which is very good.”

Jamie Maclaren is poised to enter the history books yet again. Picture: Ashley Feder/Getty Images

Along with Maclaren, City welcomed back their “Socceroos six” who were sorely missed in their loss against Western United last time out.

Mathew Leckie, Connor Metcalfe and Marco Tilio all returned from international duty, while fringe Socceroos Andrew Nabbout and Curtis Good made their comebacks from injury and illness respectively.

“They‘ve worked very hard and they did very well,” Kratky said.

“They are very experienced players and always happy to have them in the team and around the group.”

Both sides were only given three days’ notice for their matchup after respective games against Perth Glory this week were postponed due to Covid cases in the Glory camp.

City’s preparation was further stunted when coach Patrick Kisnorbo tested positive to Covid-19 in the lead-up, which meant Kratky took the reins for the evening and will do so again against Western Sydney on Friday.

“It‘s obviously the hardest time because the schedule is changing but we need to adapt,” Kratky said.

“PK (Kisnorbo) did awesome work during the training sessions and we did as much as we can to get ready for Newcastle and unfortunately he tested positive this morning (Tuesday).

“Preparation was very good and the boys showed it on the pitch.”

Melbourne City was bolstered by the return of key players from Socceroos duty. Picture: Ashley Feder/Getty Images

Meanwhile, after being outgunned by City, Newcastle Jets coach Arthur Papas described the reigning champions as the “benchmark” of the competition despite Melbourne sitting second on the table.

“In terms of Melbourne City, I think they‘re the best team we’ve played this season,” Papas said.

“They just had an extra step on us tonight. They were quicker with everything, sharper with everything,

“That’s the benchmark in the league. I know it’s easy to get caught up in ladders, but if you look at their games over time and you see some of the way they’re playing – they’re still the benchmark for me.”

Originally published as A-League Men: Melbourne City superstar Jamie Maclaren on track to make history