An early Marco Tilio goal proved the difference in Saturday night’s match between the Newcastle Jets and Melbourne City.
Aziz Behich delivered a ball in from the left hand side of the box, with Cohen heading it back across the goal where the ball eventually fell to Tilio’s feet inside the 6 yard box, where he was then able to poke the ball past the outstretched Ryan Scott into the back of the net, giving City the lead in the 2nd minute.
The Jets responded straight after, with a clever Wellisol flick finding the feet of Aquilina, who managed to fire a shot from distance, stinging Beach’s gloves before City were eventually able to scramble the ball away.
Ryan Scott was forced back into action soon after, with Steven Ugarkovic latching onto a Cohen through ball, before scuffing his shot into the hands of Ryan Scott.
The game slowed down after that City chance, with both teams creating half-chances here and there, with Susnjar firing a volley straight at Beach from a set piece. However, the closest the Jets came to scoring was through a Kosta Grozos free kick in the 38th minute. The captain fired a free kick from 30 yards that was destined for the top corner, unfortunately Beach was equal to it, pulling off an acrobatic save to palm the ball behind the goal for a corner.
Tilio had a chance to double city’s lead just after the half, picking off a pass from Grozos before making his way into the box and shooting at Scott, who pushed the ball wide of the post.
Aleksandar Susnjar had a chance from another set piece midway through the second half, throwing himself at the ball, going just wide of the city goal.
The Jets were thrown a lifeline in the 70th minute, with City midfielder Jimmy Jeggo being shown a straight red card for a stamp of the back of Eli Adams, reducing City to 10 men.
With the numerical advantage, the Jets began piling the pressure on City, with Lachlan Bayliss smashing a half-volley just over the bar. VAR also got involved, clearing Talbot of a potential handball in the box after Clayton Taylor headed the ball at him from close range.
In the 89th minute, Jets academy product Will Dobson was thrown into the match for his professional debut. The youngster had an instant impact, sliding a through ball through City’s defence to Wilmering, whose cross was cut out by their backline.
The Jets final chance fell to Eli Adams in the 4th minute of injury time, curling the ball just over the bar following a scramble in the box.
City weren’t done pushing for goals either, with Ryan Scott forced into another save in the 5th minute of injury time, batting away a shot from distance by Sulemani.
Soon after, the full time whistle was blown, with City picking up the three points. Plenty of positives for Newcastle however, whose young side gave a good account of themselves against the experience of Melbourne City. The Newcastle Jets are next in action away at Macarthur on Friday night, 7:35 pm kickoff.
