Alas, it was too little too late, with City doing enough to lock down the contest's final minutes to come away with three points.

Making matters worse for Victory was the 84th minute sight of Kruse, who had provided such a spark when he came on, limping down the tunnel holding his hamstring – potentially taking his side's finals hopes with him.

 “We have to wait for tomorrow," his coach said post-game. "He didn’t feel good and he went out."

City Mental Strength

Is the monkey finally off City’s back?

Probably not, but Friday’s performance was certainly the type that they will need to start producing if they are to shrug off the label of perennial chokers.

While seeing less of the ball and creating fewer shots, they were able to prevent their foes from having a shot on target until Kruse laced in a long-range effort that Glover saved relatively comfortably in the 65th minute.

They had a clear plan and executed it well enough to secure themselves a 2-0 lead heading into the final 10 minutes.

When challenged by a Rojas and Kruse inspired opposition they didn’t – despite the calamitous nature of Victory’s goal – fall to pieces on their way to a vital three points.

Perhaps their only worry moving forward will be Glover.

With Dean Bouzanis unavailable, the 22-year-old was back in goals for City on Friday night and a good performance would have gone a long way toward re-establishing himself as a clear number one after his Olyroos enforced departure.

Alas for the former Tottenham Hotspur youth, there were undeniable wobbles in his game. It was his brain fade in picking up a first half back pass that gifted Victory the indirect free-kick that led to their best first-half chance and the less said about his second-half howler the better.

Florin Berenguer

Particularly notable on Friday night was the play of Berenguer.

Though the 30-year-old has battled injuries through the 2019/20 season, the moments where he has been on the pitch have flashed clear signs that he is much more comfortable in the role afforded to him by fellow Frenchman Mombaerts.

Making just his seventh appearance of the season against Victory, his eighth-minute goal was, remarkably, the first of his A-League career and his ability to pick out Maclaren with a sublime backheel to give City their matchwinning lead.

"I think he was very good today," Mombaerts said.

"Especially defensively. I asked him to concentrate first on this defensively. Also, he helped a lot with his diagonal runs.

"But I want to congratulate all our players, our midfielders were also very good."