After more than a week of talk about the civil-war between Bruno Fornaroli and manager Warren Joyce, Melbourne City have proven that they are no one-man team, thoroughly defeating last season’s grand-finalists, the Newcastle Jets, 3-0 at AAMI Park.

Coming off an extremely poor performance against the Roar last Saturday, City managed to conjure up an instant response. Human scorpion Riley McGree brought down Florin Berenguer’s lofted cross, proceeding to smash the ball into the bottom corner in just the second minute of the contest.

With the Melburnians in full-voice following their 23 minute protest in support of a player actively seeking to leave their club for Sydney FC, Luke Brattan gave them even more to sing about when he brought the ball down on his chest before spectacularly volleying into the top right corner- a contender for goal of the season.

The second 45-minutes proved to be a formality, with City running out 3-0 victors following a beautiful dinked strike from Fornaroli-replacement, Lachie Wales.

The result leaves the Jets outside the top six, and sees City move to 5th on the A-League table, just two points behind cross-town rivals Melbourne Victory, with only 20 days until the Christmas Derby at AAMI Park.

Melbourne City

Eugene Galekovic- 8

Made two pivotal saves from Jason Hoffman shots. Provided great distribution that allowed City to swiftly transition from defensive to attacking phases.

Ritchie De Laet- 7

Almost ran the field with a driving passage in the 10th minute. Gets very high up the pitch and challenges defenders. Didn’t see as much of the ball as he’d like too, but shows great experience in choosing when to attack and when to hold back.

Harrison Delbridge - 8

Great ‘tekkers’ for a CB, managed a long-range strike in the 24th minute that forced a save from Moss.

Bart Schenkeveld - 8

Calmest man on the pitch. Dealt with every situation the Jets could throw at him without any notable mishaps.

Scott Jamieson - 8.5

Not shy of getting forward, often ending up the furthest forward for City. Read the game well defensively, making key interceptions and tackles. Made 66 passes, the second highest in his team.

 

Florin Berenguer - 7

Unable to find the final pass, and did not live up to his lofty CV. However he did create four chances, more than any other player on the pitch.

Kearyn Baccus - 8.5

Laid plenty of nippy little tackles to breakdown Newcastle attacks. Went close to scoring from long-range on multiple occasions. Warren Joyce will be happy with his midfielder’s performance.

Luke Brattan - 8

Scored an absolute banger, bringing the ball down on his chest before volleying into the top right corner. Additionally, he created two significant chances and delivered three crosses into the box.

Dario Vidosic - 6

The City winger was behind the pace of McGree and Wales, and did not contribute anything of note.

Lachie Wales - 9

Doesn’t provide the link-up and quality of Fornaroli but played his role very well. Scored a beautiful dinked goal over the oncoming Glen Moss to put the game to bed.

Riley McGree - 8.5

Controlled a floated Berenguer cross in the 2nd minute beautifully down on his knee before driving it into the bottom corner.

Showed great skill to draw fouls and create chances. A far more influential performance compared to last week.

SUBS:

Rostyn Griffiths - 7

Replaced Dario Vidosic in the 71st minute. Enjoyed marauding around a tired Jets midfield, racking up 14 passes with a pass accuracy of almost 93%.

Anthony Caceres - N/A

Replaced Luke Brattan in the 82nd minute.

Curtis Good - N/A

Made his long-awaited return to Melbourne City after a few years in the UK, replacing Lachlan Wales in the 87th minute.

Newcastle Jets

Glen Moss - 6

Made a few good saves as the Jets backline came under persistent attack early on. Left exposed by a defensive unit that was unable to cope with the individual skill of City’s attack.

Nikolai Topor-Stanley - 7

Dominated the aerial balls and was not at fault for any notable mistakes. However his lack of pace was exacerbated by the combined speed and skill of McGree and Wales.

Nigel Boogaard - 6

Struggled with the skill and pace of Lachie Wales, and will be disappointed with his side’s defensive effort in McGree’s opening goal.

Daniel Georgievski - 7

Received a silly yellow card for dragging down Jamieson in his defensive half, hampering his ability to lay any risky challenges on the city attackers. Unable to provide his usual link-up in attack that made him one of the league’s best defenders in his time at the Victory.

Ben Kantarovski - 6

Not involved in any moments of note, but was possibly overlooked purely for having the same haircut as three of his teammates, annoyingly.

Nick Cowburn - 8

Showed vision and a passing ability to match it with the best midfielders in the A-League. A shining light for the Jets on a forgettable night.

Steven Ugarkovic - 8.5

Worked tirelessly in first half to chase every player and ball, before being subbed just before the hour mark having run out of steam.

Jason Hoffman - 6

Scooped over the bar from two yards out after a mad scramble. Unable to make his mark on the game with only 37 touches on the night.

Dimi Petratos - 7

Went close to scoring after City defenders left him with too much space on top of the box, and again in the final 10 minutes forcing a good save from Galekovic. Not his most influential night for the Jets.

Lachlan Jackson - 6

Cluttered into de Laet clumsily and rightly received a yellow card in the 17th minute. Didn’t have too much impact on a disappointing night for Newcastle.

Ronald Vargas - 5

Let down by his first touch on multiple occasions early on but steadied to influence proceedings nicely. Almost scored goal of the season in the 43rd minute after running past three players.

Vargas went missing in the second half, and could hardly get a touch as City’s defenders shut him out of the contest, leaving him with just one shot for the night.

SUBS

Matthew Ridenton - 5

Replaced Ugarkovic in the 59th minute. Only saw the ball eight times in his 31 minute stint.

Angus Thurgate - 6

Replaced Jason Hoffman in the 71st minute.

Ivan Vujica - 6

Replaced Lachie Jackson in the 75th minute. Was involved when he came on but unable to create any chances.