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At Jack Edwards Reserve, Melbourne: Melbourne City 3 (Steven Ugarkovic 37’, Jamie Maclaren 76’, 78’) Wellington Phoenix 0 HT: 1-0
Wellington Phoenix crashed out of the Australia Cup on Sunday after Socceroos striker Jamie Maclaren scored a quick-fire double to give Melbourne City an emphatic 3-0 win in their round of 16 fixture at Jack Edwards Reserve.
The striker with the golden boot picked up where he left off last season by scoring two goals in three second-half minutes to secure City’s passage through to the quarterfinals after former Phoenix midfielder Steven Ugarkovic gave them a 1-0 lead at halfway.
Ugarkovic, who joined City from the Phoenix in the off-season, opened the scoring in the 37th minute with a deflected shot from the edge of the box after Lukas Kelly-Heald attempted to clear Aziz Behich’s cross.
Ugarkovic returned serve with a volley and his shot bounced off the back of Tolgay Arslan and looped over the head of goalkeeper Alex Paulsen.
Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images
Melbourne City Steven Ugarkovic celebrates after scoring the opening goal against his former club.
City were already in control but the injection of another new signing Terry Antonis took them to another level in the second half. He set up both of Maclaren’s goals, scored just a couple of minutes apart.
Maclaren doubled City’s lead when Mathew Leckie squared a ball back across goal after combining with Antonis, before Maclaren put the game beyond double with a powerful shot from the near post.
The Phoenix included a handful of uncontracted academy players in their match-day squad, including Josh Rudland on his starting debut, and they looked like a team in need of a few more signings to lift the quality.
Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images
Young Phoenix defender Lukas Kelly-Heald beats Jamie Maclaren to a header.
Despite managing 10 shots, they barely troubled veteran goalkeeper Jamie Young and spent most of the second half trying to contain City’s lethal attack.
Their best chances came in stoppage time when they were already three goals down when debutant Luke Supyk and Oskar Zawada both had shots cleared off the line by City’s desperate defence.
“Towards the end there was a lot of sloppiness,” coach Giancarlo Italiano conceded after the game.
“It wasn’t really what I was hoping for. I was hoping for a more polished performance.
”But in saying that it was our first good hit-out against a quality opponent … and there’s enough there we can work off.”
Although he will be disappointed to have conceded three goals, Paulsen put in another strong showing in the Phoenix goal.
The 21-year-old produced a spectacular save at 1-0 down when he tipped a shot from Hamza Sakhi over the bar.
The match was brought to a brief halt in bizarre circumstances early in the second half when the match commissioner spotted a drone hovering above the pitch and stepped onto the field with a phone in his hand.
However, after a quick discussion with referee Lachlan Keevers and the two captains, play resumed.
Sunday’s defeat was the Phoenix’s first since Italiano took charge after an initial win over Peninsula Power in the round of 32 and leaves them with a two-month gap to fill in their pre-season schedule.
The Phoenix will not play another competitive match until the A-League Men season starts on October 22.
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