MELBOURNE City’s charge towards the top end of the A-League table has kicked up a notch with a 2-0 win over competition leaders Central Coast at AAMI Park on Monday night.<\/p>\n
Jamie Maclaren opened the scoring in the 31st minute, with Nathaniel Atkinson adding a second in the 56th to help City to their fifth win on the bounce.<\/p>\n
“As a collective, we performed well,” City coach Patrick Kisnorbo said. “There’s a few areas that I think we need to improve on.<\/p>\n
“I was happy with the first half but when I think of it, we could’ve improved the second half.”<\/p>\n
The Mariners retain top spot but now have Adelaide (22 points), Western Sydney (22) and City (21) breathing down their necks, while Macarthur FC (20) are also lurking.<\/p>\n
City dominated from the outset in teeming rain but copped an early\u00a0blow when centre-back Nuno Reis suffered a groin injury and was replaced by midfielder Adrian Luna in the 20th minute.<\/p>\n
But City struck 11 minutes later when Connor Metcalfe released Florin Berenguer with a delightful ball and the Frenchman had the composure to square it for Maclaren, who caressed a shot home.<\/p>\n
With his 11th goal of the season, Maclaren became the fastest player in Australian national league history to 90 goals, reaching the milestone in his 136th A-League game.<\/p>\n
The Socceroo also drew level with Archie Thompson in third place on the all-time A-League goal scorers list.<\/p>\n
Only Mariners goalkeeper Mark Birighitti stopped the hosts from doubling their lead before half-time.<\/p>\n
Birighitti denied Maclaren at his near post in the 33rd, then got fingertips to a Luna effort 60 seconds later before rejecting Luna’s 35th-minute header.<\/p>\n
The Mariners came out of the break with more intensity, but City struck again.<\/p>\n
Atkinson dispossessed Jack Clisby inside his defensive half then slipped the ball to Andrew Nabbout, who charged forward, cut inside and had a shot blocked.<\/p>\n
The ball spilled out to Atkinson, who reacted fasted to dink it home.<\/p>\n
Birighitti then stopped City adding a third, denying Nabbout’s powerful shot in the 61st minute before miraculously batting away Maclaren’s follow-up header.<\/p>\n
Play was stopped in the 82nd minute for a VAR review on an 80th-minute challenge from Metcalfe on Mariners striker Alou Kuol, with Central Coast adamant it was a penalty.<\/p>\n
But referee Chris Beath upheld his original call, with City holding on for a 2-0 win.<\/p>\n
“As soon as it happened I thought it was a pen,” Mariners coach Alen Stajcic said. “Chris Beath said he (Metcalfe) touched (the ball), he got a toe on it.<\/p>\n
“I didn’t see the toe… and for me it’s irrelevant if he got a toe onto the ball or not. He cleaned up Alou.”<\/p>\n
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