A third goal by Macarthur FC’s Matthew Millar in the 88th minute still wasn’t enough to claim the win in AAMI Park.
An undefeated Macarthur FC kept the game goalless by the end of the first half despite the consistent pressures from the Melbourne City side. A small window in their defences cost them a goal in the 58’ minute as Jamie Maclaren slipped through and took the lead.
However, the lead was only kept for 3 minutes as Ulises Davila proved his class once again as he received a perfectly placed assist from former Melbourne City winger, Raphael Borges and chipped the long reach of Jamie Young to tie the score.
The goals continued at the 83’ minute as Davila’s attempt on goal was not handled by Melbourne’s backline, leaving Jake Hollman to take advantage and complete a stunning strike to put a second goal on his side’s scoresheet.
Again, the substitutes created trouble for the home side as Davila created the seamless opportunity for Matthew Millar to slide through the defensive line and score a third goal for Macarthur in the 88’ minute.
What was expected as a secure win and 3 points in the bag for Macarthur’s side was soon shut down as the relentless Melbourne attack. From set piece that was not controlled by Macarthur’s defence, only to create room for Jamie Maclaren to slip through the crack and secure a second goal for the home side in the 90’ minute.
The constant pressures of the Melbourne side continued into extra time, and an error from defender Jonathan Aspropotamitis cost them a penalty, which was taken and guaranteed by Terry Antonis to draw the score.
Head Coach, Mile Sterjovski expressed his thoughts on the unexpected result “It’s heartbreaking after we showed great character and got to 3-1 but then we sort of lost our heads a bit. But we’ll take a point and in the past the boys might have given up (when going behind) so I’m proud of them.” He continued with “It’s still disappointing as I felt in the second half we played some good football and should have seen the game out.”
