With your Jets travelling to Melbourne for their first ever FFA Cup Round of 16 encounter, there’s plenty of anticipation around earning a crack at the quarter-finals.
It’s just our second competitive fixture of the 2018/19 season, and we’re up against last season’s semi-final opponents, Melbourne City.
The history between the two clubs has seen 25 games played. Melbourne City has a slight advantage with 11 wins, the Jets 10, and four draws since City came into the league back in 2010.
Our resident stats guru, Dave Keating has given us the numbers: let’s break them down.
The history
In Newcastle: the Jets have won eight, City five, and one draw
In Melbourne: the Jets have won two, City six, and three draws
Last time we played Melbourne City, we earned our spot in the 2018 Hyundai A-League decider. A 2-1 come-from-behind win, remembered best for the incredible Riley McGree scorpion kick.
Our biggest ever win over City came back in February 2012, when goals from Craig Goodwin, Ruben Zadkovich, and Ryan Griffiths secured a 3-0 win at McDonald Jones Stadium.
Our heaviest defeat at the hands of City has been by four goals, on three separate occasions. The most recent was the 4-0 defeat back in March 2017, when a Bruno Fornaroli-inspired City scored three goals in the final 25 minutes to finish runaway victors.
Goals, goals, goals
Newcastle Jets have scored 36 goals in this fixture, but City lead the way with 49. They’ve scored 26 of those in matches played in Melbourne, while the Jets have scored 14.
Of those 49 goals scored by City in this fixture, Uruguayan striker Bruno Fornaroli has nine of them and is the leading scorer.
The most scored by a Jets player in this fixture is six, and that record belongs to Ryan Griffiths.
Talking points
- It’s been almost three years since the Jets last tasted victory against City in Melbourne. That one came in a 3-2 win back in October 2015, when three second-half goals saw the Jets come from two goals down to win.
- Riley McGree will play his first match against the Newcastle Jets since his move south during the off-season. The last time he played against the Jets was in February 2017, when his Adelaide United side won 1-0.
- Melbourne City have won the FFA Cup in the past, beating Sydney FC 1-0 in the 2016 edition. Newcastle are into the Round of 16 for the first time in five attempts.
- The two coaches, Newcastle’s Ernie Merrick and City’s Warren Joyce have faced off four times. All of those encounters came last season, with a Jets win, a draw, and two City wins.
