Latest news with #IsuzuUTEA-League
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
'Stars align' for A-League Men's Melbourne finale
A first derby grand final between Melbourne City and Melbourne Victory can be a shot in the arm for both the A-League Men and football in Australia. That's what City coach Aurelio Vidmar and his players believe after setting up one of the most tantalising finales in recent years. City will host their arch-rivals at AAMI Park, both clubs' home ground, next Saturday night. Incredibly, it will be the only major men's sporting event in town that evening, with no AFL or NRL games scheduled in Melbourne. It means the hottest tickets in town should deliver a sell-out grand final, and give a struggling competition a big publicity and financial boost. "The stars have aligned for football fans for next week," Vidmar said. "It feels like it's already building up straight away. "I think it's what everyone is talking about straight after the game. So it's worked out well." Striker Max Caputo, a Melbourne local, is pinching himself at the prospect of a packed, raucous AAMI Park. "This is the best outcome for the A-League in general, in Australian football, to have a Melbourne derby in a grand final like this, it sure brings bums on seats," he said. "So not much bigger stakes than this." Vidmar has urged his charges to embrace every moment of grand final week. LOCKED IN: A FIRST-EVER MELBOURNE DERBY GRAND FINAL! 🔵⚔️@MelbourneCity will host bitter rivals @gomvfc at AAMI Park in the Isuzu UTE A-League decider. It doesn't get much bigger than this 🏆🎟️ General public tickets go live at 1pm AEST on Tuesday 27 May. Details:… — Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) May 24, 2025 "It's going to be a super week. We just have to enjoy it," Vidmar said. "Whatever comes our way - I'm sure there's going to be lots of interviews and lots of things happening, but we'll just try to keep as calm as we possibly can and enjoy it, because you can't shy away from it. "Some will probably handle it better than others, I'd imagine. "But the message from me would be just to keep calm, to enjoy it, not to put too much stress on yourself, and then come out and try to be at your very, very best on the very final day of the season." City progressed to their fourth grand final in five seasons after drawing 1-1 with Western United on Saturday night, going through 4-1 on aggregate. But before their game, they watched as Victory stunned Auckland FC 2-0 away to win their semi-final 2-1 on aggregate. .@MelbourneCity skipper Aziz Behich is on the scoresheet yet again! 🫡🔥City now extend their aggregate lead to 4-0 over Western United in the Semi-Final. 📺 Watch #MCYvWUN live NOW on Paramount+, 10 Play or 10 Bold. — Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) May 24, 2025 Caputo, a City academy product, couldn't be happier with how things have played out. "These are moments you dream of," he said. "We were watching the game before the our game, and we saw Victory won, and that kind of geed the boys up even more. "So now we're going into a grand final, derby final. So doesn't get much bigger than this, does it?"
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Six of the best as Jet-powered Newcastle maul Mariners
The Newcastle Jets have written another miserable chapter in Central Coast's forgettable A-League Men season, smashing their bitter rivals 6-0 in the latest staging of the F3 Derby and mathematically ending their title defence. Welcoming the Mariners to McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday, the Jets were ruthless against their at-times hapless foes, taking an early lead through Aleksandar Susnjar, then piling on the goals after Storm Roux's 39th-minute red card. The defeat left Mark Jackson's side nine points outside the top six with two games remaining, ending their run of fairytale back-to-back championships at two and forcing them to watch the playoffs from home for the first time since 2019-20. What better time to score your first @NewcastleJetsFC goal than an F3 Derby? 😈🔥Aleksandar Susnjar heads home and it's first blood Newcastle against @CCMariners!Watch #NEWvCCM live NOW on Paramount+ and 10 Bold 📺 — Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) April 12, 2025 Five points outside the top six with just three games to play and already having announced that coach Rob Stanton will not be returning, the Jets are also unlikely to play finals, but they secured derby bragging rights for the first time since December 2022. Clayton Taylor ran the show, the 21-year-old assisting Susnjar and Daniel Wilmering's goals and inducing Mariner skipper Trent Sainsbury to turn the ball into his own net on the stroke of halftime. He then made it 4-0 with a long-range laser in the 50th minute. Oh my, that's a SPECIAL strike 🚀😱 Clayton Taylor adds a screamer to go with THREE assists in 50 minutes!The Jets lead 4-0 and their 21-year-old young gun is running riot 🔥Watch #NEWvCCM live NOW on Paramount+ and 10 Bold 📺 — Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) April 12, 2025 Kota Mizunuma set up Eli Adams for the fifth in the 73rd minute, and the youngster grabbed a second in the 92nd, ensuring the six-goal margin equalled the Jets' 8-2 win in 2018 for the heaviest in the rivalry's history. Reflective of the Mariners' evening, the red card to Roux came just eight minutes after he came on as a replacement for an injured Mikael Doka, lashing out with an elbow following a tussle with Callum Timmins. Outshot 22 to to four, the Mariners failed to force Jets keeper Ryan Scott to work all evening.
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Lopane stars for City as Sky Blues finals hopes dampen
Melbourne City have tightened their hold on a top-four A-League Men finish after a late Alessandro Lopane goal secured a 3-2 win over Sydney FC. With the score level after a four-goal shootout in the first half, Lopane marked his return from injury with the 61st-minute matchwinner at Allianz Stadium on Saturday. It was the midfielder's first appearance of the season after undergoing surgery for a patella injury in October. A second-half challenge from the Sky Blues was expected after a season of late comeback wins, but a desperate City outfit held on. First game back in 328 days, and you produce THIS 🤯💣 Alessandro Lopane, take a bow!A triumphant return to the Isuzu UTE A-League for @MelbourneCity's 20-year-old young gun - some hit 👏Watch #SYDvMCY live NOW on Paramount+ and 10 Bold 📺 — Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) March 29, 2025 City can finish the round as high as third on 37 points after extending their unbeaten streak to six matches against Sydney, five points adrift of league leaders Auckland FC. Ufuk Talay's finals hopefuls, seventh in the league, have not defeated City since December 2022. The Sky Blues are three points off sixth-placed Adelaide United, next round's opponents, with five games remaining of the home-and-away season. A potentially serious injury to influential midfielder Leo Sena only adds to the host's woes. Sena was stretchered off the field after his ankle was caught under him when he was tackled by City star Max Caputo in the seventh minute. Sky Blues defender Joel King also appeared to pick up his own ankle complaint in the second half and was replaced by Zac De Jesus at 55 minutes. It was teenage sensations Caputo and Medin Memeti calling the shots for the visitors in the first half. Memeti opened the scoring in the fifth minute, before Caputo cancelled out Jordan Courtney-Perkins' 28th-minute goal to restore City's lead in the 35th minute. Sydney defender Courtney-Perkins had controversially escaped giving away a penalty for fouling Memeti, having tugged his opponent's shirt in the 19th minute. Courtney-Perkins then popped up again with a classy pass from the left wing to help Douglas Costa equalise in the 39th minute.
Yahoo
16-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Mariners grab Auckland draw but title defence in strife
Central Coast have come from behind twice to claim a 2-2 draw with Auckland FC and blow the A-League Men premiership race open. But it likely won't be enough to save the back-to-back reigning champions' title defence. Auckland took the lead on Sunday through Guillermo May's header in the 10th minute before Vitor Feijao responded in the 71st for the Mariners. Callan Elliot's cracking half-volley seven minutes later gave the home team the lead before Nicholas Duarte salvaged a point with a 90th-minute equaliser at Go Media Stadium. MARINERS STEAL A POINT AT THE DEATH 😱🙌21-year-old Nico Duarte scores his first A-Leagues goal in the 90th minute to stun the league Isuzu UTE A-League delivers even more late drama!#AKLvCCM — Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) March 16, 2025 Steve Corica's Auckland are winless in three, drawing all of those matches. With six games left, the league newcomers sit top on 42 points, just seven clear of second-placed Western United, who play Newcastle later on Sunday. Just two points separate United and sixth-placed Adelaide (33), but Mark Jackson's 10th-placed Mariners (22) are 11 points outside the finals places, with only five games to play, seemingly dashing their hopes of a three-peat. Auckland regained centre-back Dan Hall after more than three months out with a broken ankle, while Mariners star Mikael Doka pulled up sore barely a minute into the match but played on. Auckland took the lead when Neyder Moreno slipped through Jesse Randall on the left and the winger lifted an excellent cross into a dangerous area. May ghosted in completely unmarked to drive a powerful header past the hapless Mariners defence. The perfect start 👏 @fc_auckland lead inside 10 minutes! 🔥Guillermo May caps off a brilliant move to score his 8th goal of the #AKLvCCM live now on Paramount+ (AU) / Sky Sport (NZ). — Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) March 16, 2025 Alex Paulsen brilliantly denied Christian Theoharous with a superb reflex save in the 37th minute and Theoharous skimmed another just over the bar barely a minute later. The Mariners equalised when Theoharous burst forward and worked the ball out wide for Lucas Mauragis, who lifted a cross for Feijao to head home. For Auckland's would-be winner, Hiroki Sakai headed the ball down and back into play from a Frances de Vries free kick and he was celebrating even before a charging Elliot burst through and rifled home the half-volley. But at the death Auckland skipper Sakai, lying flat on his back, watched on in horror when his poor clearance lifted up for Duarte to head home the equaliser. After the international break, Auckland travel to face Brisbane on Sunday March 30, when Central Coast host Perth.
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Reds keep heat on leaders Auckland after Veart pep talk
Adelaide United coach Carl Veart has admitted he didn't even discuss the first half during his half-time address in the Reds' 1-0 A-League Men's win over Melbourne City. Such was the dismal performance in the opening 45 minutes on Friday, Veart said he told his troops to wipe it from their memory and turn their attention to the second half. His demand worked wonders as the the Reds upped their game to earn the win that keeps them hot on the heels of league leaders Auckland, just two points behind. One of the finest headers you'll see in the Isuzu UTE A-League 😮💨👌@AdelaideUnited's Archie Goodwin moves up to second on the Golden Boot standings with this thumping header!There's no stopping him now 😏📺 Watch #ADLvMCY live NOW and exclusive on Paramount+ and 10 Play. — Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) February 7, 2025 City had dominated from the kickoff, applying an intense and high press, and aided by strong winds which saw the Reds struggle to play with any fluidity. However, after the restart and the introduction of Yaya Dukuly at the break, United looked a completely different outfit and went on to break the deadlock on 52 minutes. Archie Goodwin's glancing header from a Zach Clough corner proved enough to secure all three points for the Reds. "I said to the group at half-time, 'that was 45 minutes that we just forget about'," Veart explained. "There's no point discussing any tactical or anything like that, we just completely forget about it and just focus on what we need to do in the second half. "We knew that we were going to have the wind behind us and we knew that if they kept their line high, that we'd be able to get in behind, use our speed to get in behind a little bit more and play a little bit more direct. "The boys did that well and we got a little bit of control of the game and then our passing improved and everything improved from there." Veart acknowledged the gusty winds did play a part in United's poor first half, but felt the Reds should have managed it better. There were numerous errant passes and elementary errors, but Veart applauded Adelaide's character in turning it around after the break. "When you make those couple of mistakes early in the game, you put a little bit of pressure on yourself and we just couldn't get out of our half," said Veart. "But we showed good resilience, we defended well, we kept them out of our box so it was pleasing in that aspect." The loss was City's third consecutive defeat following a 3-0 loss to Auckland FC a fortnight ago and a 1-0 loss to Macarthur last week. Coach Aurelio Vidmar said he is not concerned, confident City's performances have demonstrated enough to show they can arrest the current run of results. "No, if you look at the results you can say we've lost three in a row, but last week had a good performance against Macarthur and didn't deserve to lose that; a draw was probably a fair result," he said. "And tonight, it could've gone either way. We're doing more than enough like tonight to get ourselves ahead and give us the best opportunity to win the game. "But we're just not doing enough in the front third."
