City almost have third place on the table locked in as Bruno Fornaroli scored the only goal of the game on Saturday night and will be wondering how he didn’t get another.

With the game still in the balance, Joyce raised eyebrows when took off Arzani for Nick Fitzgerald in the 55th minute.

The 19-year-old has been under immense scrutiny for the past two months with speculation about whether he’ll play for Australia or Iran.

Arzani has managed 15 games for City this season and the City boss felt it was the right call to sub him.

“If you looked at his volume of work, load and the actual high speed he’s covered in the last few weeks, it’s phenomenal,” Joyce said post-match.

“Players who’ve played in that position, it’s the hardest thing to do, to run with the ball and run at high speeds.

He’s been on top of all the stats in the last few weeks and he’s going to have a time, he’s only a young kid, where he’s not going to be quite at those highs.

“You can see you don’t want to break him down. He’s done tremendously well in the last few weeks and you want him to commit to doing that, but I just didn’t think he was just quite as sharp as he’s been, tonight.”

Joyce also praised Arzani for being able to handle the media attention which has been placed on him this year.

“He’s kept it together really well, even this week everyone wants a piece of him,” he said.

“He should’ve had a photoshoot for Nike for the national side for the new kit this week. All those things we’re having to keep tabs on because he wants to be involved in everything.

“We know how much work he’s done in the last few weeks and we want him to stay fit and performing the way he’s been performing.”

City play their last game of the season away to Wellington Phoenix next week.