Melbourne City have beaten Adelaide United 2-1 in extra time of the second leg of their A-League Men semi-final and will play Western United in the grand final.
Melbourne City are one win away from becoming the first team to complete consecutive A-League Men premiership-championship doubles and star striker Jamie Maclaren says it would cap off a dynasty.
Melbourne City - Adelaide United
- Melbourne beat Adelaide 2-1 in their second-leg semi-final to progress to the Grand Final.
- They will meet cross-town rivals Western United for the championship.
- City will be hoping to become consecutive premiership-championship winners.
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Maclaren's 92nd-minute goal sealed a dramatic second-leg 2-1 comeback victory over Adelaide United on Sunday, teeing up an all-Victorian A-League decider against Western United at AAMI Park on Saturday, City's third consecutive grand find appearance.
It will be the first all-Melbourne national league grand final since 1998.
Zac Clough that is WORLD CLASS 🤯@AdelaideUnited breakthrough at AAMI Park!
— Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) May 22, 2022
Catch all the action LIVE on @Channel10AU 📺
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Scores were locked at 0-0 after Wednesday's first leg at Coopers Stadium and Zach Clough's wonderful 48th-minute dink put Adelaide in front at AAMI Park, before Marco Tilio equalised in the 74th to take the game to extra time.
GAME ON AT AAMI PARK! 💥
— Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) May 22, 2022
Marco Tilio levels the score @MelbourneCity!
Catch all the action LIVE on @Channel10AU 📺
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Then Maclaren's strike put City on the verge of league history.
The Golden Boot winner fires @MelbourneCity in front! 🔥
— Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) May 22, 2022
Can @AdelaideUnited find a way back?!
Catch all the action LIVE on @Channel10AU 📺
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"It (another double) would be huge. That's probably what we set out (to do) ever since Erick Mombaerts joined the club and obviously PK (coach Patrick Kisnorbo) took the helm after Erick," Maclaren told reporters.
"When I joined this club, Melbourne City was a mid-table team and ever since ... we've just really turned it into a dynasty.
"All the boys are hungry. When you've got a hungry group who believe in our structure and the way we want to play and we know that we've got the backing of everyone.
"We just fight for each other and you saw today we were 1-0 down and probably everyone thought Adelaide were going to run away with it.
"But we didn't think so and here we are going into a grand final."
It was City's first victory over a top-four team from 11 attempts this season and Kisnorbo delighted in their fightback.
"For me it's the character that we showed today for 120 minutes," Kisnorbo said.
"There are two ways (it can go after conceding), you either collapse and let just things be or show fight and I think we did that."
Tilio's back-post header kept the game alive then two minutes into extra time, Maclaren held up the ball for Connor Metcalfe and while Michael Jakobsen got in the way of the midfielder's shot, he didn't properly clear it.
A THIRD STRAIGHT Grand Final awaits @MelbourneCity 👏🏼
— Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) May 22, 2022
And the City Terrace can’t wait 🔥
City book their spot: https://t.co/jYW7J4yc5m#MCYvADL #WeAreALeagues @IsuzuUTE pic.twitter.com/XIXtvt4zSj
The shallow clearance fell straight to Maclaren, who buried his 16th goal of the season at the near post to seal the grand final berth.
"I just had to be alert. I made sure that if there ever was going to be a mistake, it would fall in my path and up to me to bury it," Maclaren said.
The loss condemned Adelaide to back-to-back semi-final exits.
"I couldn't be more proud of the boys, they gave everything tonight," coach Carl Veart said.
"It's been a long season and I think in the end we just ran out of petrol.
"We had some good opportunities in the game to kill it off but that's football."
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