Despite falling behind within two minutes to a strike from Kwame Yeboah, a second-half fightback from City earned them all three points at Bankwest Stadium on Friday night.

Converting a controversial penalty in the 56th minute to tie things up, Maclaren then provided the assist for Josh Brillante’s 73rd minute goal and – after Yeboah’s second in the 80th – grabbed the winner in the 92nd minute of play.

As well as sealing an important three points to keep City top of the table heading into their bye week, the goals take the striker’s tally to five in the two games he’s played since he returned from a minor hamstring tear against Brisbane Roar.

In total, the lethal target man has netted 19 times for club and country in the 12 hitouts he's had since the beginning of the 2019/20 campaign.  

“When you’re on a roll you’re on a roll,” Maclaren told FTBL following his side’s win.

“You just find yourself in good areas and when you’re hitting the ball, in a way you feel like you’ve got more time because you’re composed and free in the mind. That’s where I am at the moment.

“The boys are putting me in great positions. And like I said, I’m putting them away and just enjoying football at the moment.

“That stems from our training. We start working on how we’re going to play from the start of the week and that really builds.

"The way we play our formations, the way we play our structures it builds relationships over the few days and when you work on the Thursday and Friday on your runs on the weekend it just becomes natural on game day.

“Lachie Wales came on as a sub and you saw that he knew that I was going to make a run to the near post and check off and make sure I was free [on City’s third].”

Since breaking into the A-League with Perth Glory in 2013, Maclaren has never shied away from a goal.

The 26-year-old has now scored 65 times across 104 A-League appearances in his career and his goals per game ratio of 0.625 putting him all-time fourth on the list of players with a minimum of 20 A-League appearances (however he will fall to fifth when Ola Toivonen plays his 20th A-League game against Adelaide United).  

The more recent 19 in 12, though, represents a height rarely reached in Australian football.

“I would have to say I’m in the best form I’ve had since I was about five years old scoring goals for Sunbury United,” Maclaren said.

“I’m in career-best form and whether it’s club or country, I just go out believing.

“It helps having coaches like Erick [Mombaerts] and Graham Arnold who give me faith and having top quality boys behind me that know my movements.

“I don’t need to sort of explain my move [to City], why I came back. [I’m a] Melbourne boy, proud to be from the city.

“In a way, I want to come and be a part of a club that is building their history and I want to be a hero for this club.

“I want to be a player that people remember in the city and just try and give back to Australian football because they’ve given me so much.”