Melbourne City defeated Melbourne Victory 3-0 in the Foxtel National Youth League at Lakeside Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Both sides had Hyundai A-League quality in their line-ups, with Victory fielding Stefan Nigro and Jai Ingham, and Nicolas Colazo featuring for City.
Despite having plenty of possession in the early stages of the game, Victory fell behind in the 12th minute. The ball landed at the feet of City’s Gerrie Sylaidos 10 yards from goal, who buried it in the bottom left corner.
City could have gone 2-0 up soon after but for a great double save by Alastair Bray. Victory’s goalkeeper, however, hurt himself in the process and had to be replaced by Stephen Hatzikourtis.
The visitors continued to pile on the pressure, but Victory’s defence remained stoic and kept City at bay. The score remained 1-0 at half-time.
Victory’s efforts to get back in the contest were dealt a big blow after a quick-fire second-half double from City.
In the 58th minute, Victory’s defence was caught napping when a well-weighted free-kick found Ruon Tongyik at the far post. Tongyik placed a nice header across the face of goal for Denis Genreau to nod home from close-range.
Just three minutes later, City added a third when Genreau played a pinpoint cross to Colazo, who had the simple job of placing the ball in the back of the net from the six-yard line.
Victory continued to search for a way into the match and almost pulled a goal back in the 78th minute when Pierce Waring worked his way into the box, but the striker’s shot cannoned off the post before being cleared off the line.
Waring’s chance would prove to be a rare highlight on a tough afternoon for Victory.
Foxtel National Youth League 2016/17 Round 2
Melbourne Victory 0
Melbourne City 3 (Gerrie Sylaidos 12′, Denis Genreau 58’, Nicolas Colazo 61’)
