Latest news with #YonatanCohen
RNZ News
3 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Early Cohen strike earns Melbourne City A-League title in derby clash
Melbourne City players celebrate Photo: ROB PREZIOSO / PHOTOSPORT Melbourne City lifted the A-League Championship for the second time in the club's history on Saturday as a 1-0 Grand Final win over crosstown rivals Melbourne Victory secured the title for Aurelio Vidmar's side. Yonatan Cohen's 10th minute strike ensured the City Football Group-owned outfit shaded a tense all-Melbourne clash - the first derby meeting in the decider in the league's 20th season - to add the title to their only previous win in 2021. "The derby is always like this, it was always going to be physical out there," said City defender Nathaniel Atkinson. "We knew if we matched them with the fight, we could let our football do the talking, and once we got that goal we knew, with our defence, that we could keep a clean sheet." City weathered Victory's early pressure in front of almost 30,000 fans at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium to take the lead, Cohen reacting quickest to beat Jack Duncan from close range after Max Caputo's effort had come back off the crossbar. Mathew Leckie threw himself at full stretch to block a goal-bound strike from Victory's Zinedine Machach 10 minutes later to maintain the lead, and the Australia international was denied at the other end when his header was gathered on the line by Duncan. Victory, also runners-up in last year's decider, pushed to pull level before the interval, with City goalkeeper Patrick Beach diving to his right to save another Machach attempt while Roderick Miranda headed Daniel Arzani's freekick wide. Duncan had to be at his sharpest to keep out Cohen's curling effort from distance a little over a minute after the restart and, as the half approached the midway point, Caputo snatched at his attempt when he had the time and space to double the lead. Cohen should have put the result beyond doubt with 14 minutes remaining when, unmarked, the Israel international headed harmlessly across the face of the Victory goal. That miss was to prove academic as City kept their neighbours at bay to win the championship, having finished second behind Auckland FC in the regular season standings earlier this month. "It's really tough being in this position for two years in a row, but hopefully next year we can go again," said Victory captain Miranda. "They had one chance in the first half and scored and in the second half they defended really well. But this is football." -Reuters
Courier-Mail
3 days ago
- Sport
- Courier-Mail
A-League grand final, Melbourne Victory v City live: news, scores, updates
Melbourne City are A-League champions for a second time after holding their nerve to deny local rivals Melbourne Victory a record-equalling fifth grand final triumph on Saturday night. Yonatan Cohen's 10th-minute goal, the third fastest in men's grand final history, was the difference in the showpiece conclusion to the competition's 20th season watched by an AAMI Park sporting-record crowd of 29,902. The matchwinner would have had himself a brace but headed a gilt-edged opportunity wide from Marco Tilio's cross with a quarter of an hour remaining. Aurelio Vidmar's side were nevertheless content with their advantage, albeit slender, surviving a handball shout against Germán Ferreyra and sticking rigidly to the principles which have guided them to a fourth shot at glory in six years. City's Yonatan Cohen celebrates his goal. Picture: Getty Images The only adjustment was the super-human level of tenacity with which they performed - epitomised by Mathew Leckie sporting a bandage to patch up a busted nose after taking a boot to the face. City pack punch in end-to-end first half Victory, backed by a majority crowd, many of whom had been inside more than an hour before kick-off, endeavoured to feed off a combination of this fervour and momentum from their surprise semi-final win, with Daniel Arzani and Zinédine Machach having plenty of touches in the final third, whilst a loose Patrick Beach touch gifted them an early corner. But their supporters were soon silenced and, because of the early promise, shellshocked, as Cohen read the play intelligently once Aziz Behich's cute backheel had given Andreas Kuen space to centre for Max Caputo, and was placed to pounce on his teammate's effort crashing out off the crossbar. Nine minutes later, Jack Duncan had to be alert under his crossbar to keep out a towering header from Socceroo Leckie making his first start since March. Meanwhile, Beach had settled his nerves and at full stretch, got gloves to Machach's fizzing as the last line of City's tigerish defences. City's Aziz Behich and Victory's Zinadine Machach compete for the ball. Picture: Getty Images No more bad luck against the Vucks for Vidmar The outcome exorcises any demons lurking in Vidmar's mind from 2009's grand final when - facing Victory - his Adelaide United side suffered an early red card in a contest they would go on to lose by a single goal. City's first championship triumph in 2021 will not be forgotten, but this glory - secured by winning the first-ever Melbourne Derby grand final - will be etched into folklore. It also provided a full stop to the run of seven matches without success over Victory, although in these circumstances, an exclamation mark would be more fitting. Tempers fray during the grand final. Picture: Getty Images Devastation for Diles despite tremendous turnaround Victory's season was at a crossroads after Patrick Kisnorbo left for Yokohama F. Marinos on the eve of the Christmas derby, and assistant boss Arthur Diles was thrust into the hot seat. It then appeared in reverse as his tenure started with six winless outings. But three successes from four steered them back toward top-six contention, and when it comes to finals football, they are a different beast. Driven by Diles' 'kill or be killed' mantra, they ended Western Sydney Wanderers' 12-game unbeaten streak in the elimination match, and caused another surprise by overturning a first-leg deficit away to Premiers Auckland FC. They could not, however, become the first team to claim the championship after finishing outside of the top four and missing the acceleration of the injured Nishan Velupillay, struggled to penetrate 2024/25's meanest defence. With the game slipping away, Josh Rawlins headed their clearest opening off target. Originally published as A-League grand final, Melbourne Victory v City live: news, scores, updates
Herald Sun
3 days ago
- Sport
- Herald Sun
A-League grand final, Melbourne Victory v City live: news, scores, updates
Melbourne City are A-League champions for a second time after holding their nerve to deny local rivals Melbourne Victory a record-equalling fifth grand final triumph on Saturday night. Yonatan Cohen's 10th-minute goal, the third fastest in men's grand final history, was the difference in the showpiece conclusion to the competition's 20th season watched by an AAMI Park sporting-record crowd of 29,902. The matchwinner would have had himself a brace but headed a gilt-edged opportunity wide from Marco Tilio's cross with a quarter of an hour remaining. Aurelio Vidmar's side were nevertheless content with their advantage, albeit slender, surviving a handball shout against Germán Ferreyra and sticking rigidly to the principles which have guided them to a fourth shot at glory in six years. City's Yonatan Cohen celebrates his goal. Picture: Getty Images The only adjustment was the super-human level of tenacity with which they performed - epitomised by Mathew Leckie sporting a bandage to patch up a busted nose after taking a boot to the face. City pack punch in end-to-end first half Victory, backed by a majority crowd, many of whom had been inside more than an hour before kick-off, endeavoured to feed off a combination of this fervour and momentum from their surprise semi-final win, with Daniel Arzani and Zinédine Machach having plenty of touches in the final third, whilst a loose Patrick Beach touch gifted them an early corner. But their supporters were soon silenced and, because of the early promise, shellshocked, as Cohen read the play intelligently once Aziz Behich's cute backheel had given Andreas Kuen space to centre for Max Caputo, and was placed to pounce on his teammate's effort crashing out off the crossbar. Nine minutes later, Jack Duncan had to be alert under his crossbar to keep out a towering header from Socceroo Leckie making his first start since March. Meanwhile, Beach had settled his nerves and at full stretch, got gloves to Machach's fizzing as the last line of City's tigerish defences. City's Aziz Behich and Victory's Zinadine Machach compete for the ball. Picture: Getty Images No more bad luck against the Vucks for Vidmar The outcome exorcises any demons lurking in Vidmar's mind from 2009's grand final when - facing Victory - his Adelaide United side suffered an early red card in a contest they would go on to lose by a single goal. City's first championship triumph in 2021 will not be forgotten, but this glory - secured by winning the first-ever Melbourne Derby grand final - will be etched into folklore. It also provided a full stop to the run of seven matches without success over Victory, although in these circumstances, an exclamation mark would be more fitting. Tempers fray during the grand final. Picture: Getty Images Devastation for Diles despite tremendous turnaround Victory's season was at a crossroads after Patrick Kisnorbo left for Yokohama F. Marinos on the eve of the Christmas derby, and assistant boss Arthur Diles was thrust into the hot seat. It then appeared in reverse as his tenure started with six winless outings. But three successes from four steered them back toward top-six contention, and when it comes to finals football, they are a different beast. Driven by Diles' 'kill or be killed' mantra, they ended Western Sydney Wanderers' 12-game unbeaten streak in the elimination match, and caused another surprise by overturning a first-leg deficit away to Premiers Auckland FC. They could not, however, become the first team to claim the championship after finishing outside of the top four and missing the acceleration of the injured Nishan Velupillay, struggled to penetrate 2024/25's meanest defence. With the game slipping away, Josh Rawlins headed their clearest opening off target. Originally published as A-League grand final, Melbourne Victory v City live: news, scores, updates
New Straits Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- New Straits Times
Melbourne City edge crosstown rivals to win A-League title
MELBOURNE: Forward Yonatan Cohen proved the hero as Melbourne City claimed the bragging rights over crosstown rivals Melbourne Victory with a 1-0 victory to lift the A-League title on Saturday. In front of a sell-out crowd of 29,902 at AAMI Park, Cohen scored in the 10th minute before the disciplined City shut down Victory with gritty defending in a nerve-jangling second-half. City claimed their second title having reached the grand final for the fifth time in the last six years. "It's amazing to do it against our rivals," City defender Nathaniel Atkinson said. "We got that early goal and we knew with our defence that we could keep a clean sheet." It was a bitter disappointment for Victory, who lost at the final hurdle for the second straight season to once again fall short of equalling Sydney FC's record of five titles. "It's really tough to be in this position two years in a row," Victory defender Roderick Miranda said. "We had chances in the beginning, but in the second-half they defended really well." The powerhouse clubs had never previously met in a grand final since the A-League replaced the National Soccer League in 2005 as Australia's top football competition. The blockbuster decider was a tonic for a competition that has been mired by financial strain and declining popularity since the Covid-19 pandemic. A heavy police presence was visible before the game as opposing supporters marched through the streets and set off flares, but there were no reports of violence. Amid a febrile atmosphere inside the stadium, Victory made the early running with striker Daniel Arzani providing headaches for City's defence. But City, entering with an unbeaten eight-game streak, pounced against the run of play on their first foray forward. Max Caputo's bullet rifled off the upright and straight to Israel international Cohen, who hammered the third fastest goal in A-League grand final history. City continued to threaten on the counterattack and a powerful header from Mathew Leckie was on target until a desperate dive from goalkeeper Jack Duncan came to Victory's rescue. The tireless Arzani tried to will an equaliser for Victory, but he had little room to weave his silky skills against the swarming City defence. Cohen opened the second-half with a wickedly curling strike from the edge of the box only for Duncan to produce another outstanding full-stretched save. Tensions flared between the teams as City missed several golden opportunities to end Victory's resistance.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Melbourne City edge crosstown rivals to win A-League title
Yonatan Cohen (C) celebrates after scoring the goal which secured Melbourne City's victory in the A-League grand final against Melbourne Victory (William WEST) Israeli forward Yonatan Cohen proved the hero as Melbourne City claimed the bragging rights over crosstown rivals Melbourne Victory with a 1-0 victory to lift the A-League title on Saturday. In front of a sell-out crowd of 29,902 at AAMI Park, Cohen scored in the 10th minute before the disciplined City shut down Victory with gritty defending in a nerve-jangling second-half. Advertisement City claimed their second title having reached the grand final for the fifth time in the last six years. "It's amazing to do it against our rivals," City defender Nathaniel Atkinson said. "We got that early goal and we knew with our defence that we could keep a clean sheet." It was a bitter disappointment for Victory, who lost at the final hurdle for the second straight season to once again fall short of equalling Sydney FC's record of five titles. "It's really tough to be in this position two years in a row," Victory defender Roderick Miranda said. "We had chances in the beginning, but in the second-half they defended really well." Advertisement The powerhouse clubs had never previously met in a grand final since the A-League replaced the National Soccer League in 2005 as Australia's top football competition. The blockbuster decider was a tonic for a competition that has been mired by financial strain and declining popularity since the Covid-19 pandemic. A heavy police presence was visible before the game as opposing supporters marched through the streets and set off flares, but there were no reports of violence. Amid a febrile atmosphere inside the stadium, Victory made the early running with striker Daniel Arzani providing headaches for City's defence. Advertisement But City, entering with an unbeaten eight-game streak, pounced against the run of play on their first foray forward. Max Caputo's bullet rifled off the upright and straight to Israel international Cohen, who hammered the third fastest goal in A-League grand final history. City continued to threaten on the counterattack and a powerful header from Mathew Leckie was on target until a desperate dive from goalkeeper Jack Duncan came to Victory's rescue. The tireless Arzani tried to will an equaliser for Victory, but he had little room to weave his silky skills against the swarming City defence. Advertisement Cohen opened the second-half with a wickedly curling strike from the edge of the box only for Duncan to produce another outstanding full-stretched save. Tensions flared between the teams as City missed several golden opportunities to end Victory's resistance. But their steely defence held up as City erupted in jubilation when the whistle sounded. tl/mtp
