City and Phoenix primed for Cup rematch

Melbourne City and Wellington Phoenix face off for a Quarter Final berth in an all A-League affair at Casey Fields on Wednesday night.

Wednesday’s match marks the first time City’s Men’s squad will play a competitive fixture at Casey Fields since the Club’s re-location to the South East last year

HOW TO WATCH: Australia Cup Round of 16
PREVIEW: Australia Cup Round of 16 Matchday Three

The two sides were set to meet at Casey Fields in the Australia Cup Quarter Finals last season, however the match was relocated to Kingston Heath Soccer Complex due to some COVID enforced changes.

It was Ufuk Talay’s side who progressed to the Semi-Final on that day after a goalless stalemate that went to penalties.

Young goalkeeper Alex Paulsen stepped up and made three strong saves in the shootout, before Nicholas Pennington scored the winning penalty, to send the Nix through. 

2021 Australia Cup Quarter Final Key Moments: Melbourne City v Wellington Phoenix


Wednesday’s match will be the third Australia Cup clash between City and Phoenix with City running out 5-1 winners in the Round of 16 in 2015 the first time the two met in the cup.

Wellington reached this year’s last 16 with a 4-0 win over Devonport Strikers thanks to a Ben Waine brace as well as goals to Oskar Van Hattum and Bozhidar Kraev earlier this month.

Melbourne City, who have won all six of their previous Round of 16 outings, qualified for this stage of the competition with a 1-0 win over Newcastle Olympic.

A first senior goal for academy product Luke Oresti proved decisive as City overcame a dogged Olympic outfit.

Melbourne City Head Coach, Patrick Kisnorbo said his side were looking forward to playing their first competitive home match of the new season on Wednesday night.

“I think it’s great for the community to be able to come to watch a game at their back doorstep.

“We encourage everyone to come and watch. It’s great for us and great for our community. We’re very much looking forward to tomorrow.”

“It’s different you know, we’re still in pre-season so, it’s getting that juggling act of pre-season and games,” Kisnorbo said

“I think the good thing is that players got some minutes (against Olympic), they played a competitive game and it’s the same again tomorrow.

“The only difference is we’re playing against an A-League team, so we’re both maybe in the same boat but again we want to push and do well.”

Pre-Match Press Conference: Patrick Kisnorbo

Wellington Phoenix Head Coach, Ufuk Talay said his side were up for the challenge presented by last season’s A-League Premiers.

“They had the better of us in the A-League competition, but we had the better of them in the Cup, so hopefully that continues,” Talay said. 

“They’re a good side with very good players, nothing much has changed there when we analyzed their game in the round of 32.

“Nothing much has changed apart from maybe a couple of personnel and depending on where players are at in preseason.

“They’re a very good side and I am sure our boys will be up for it.”

Opta Stats: #MCYvWEL

  • This will be the third meeting between Melbourne City FC and Wellington Phoenix in the Australia Cup; the Phoenix logged a 4-3 penalty shootout victory in their most recent game (2021 QF), after Melbourne City FC had won their inaugural meeting in 2015 (5-1 – Round of 16).
  • Melbourne City FC have a 100% win percentage in the Australia Cup Round of 16 (6/6); it’s the joint-most appearances at this stage without losing by any team in the history of the competition (also Adelaide United – W6) and the joint-most victories in such fixtures by any team overall (Adelaide United – W6 and Sydney FC – W6).
  • Wellington Phoenix have logged a 4-1 win (2021 v Avondale FC) and a 5-1 defeat (2015 v Melbourne City FC) in their only two previous appearances in the Australia Cup Round of 16.
  • Wellington Phoenix (77%) and Melbourne City FC (68%) had the highest and third highest rates of possession of any teams in the Round of 32 of the 2022 Australia Cup (Avondale FC – 69%).
  • Ben Waine (Wellington Phoenix) has been directly involved in five goals in his last four starting appearances in the Australia Cup (4 goals, 1 assist), including a brace last time out (3 August 2022 v Devonport City Strikers).

Melbourne City v Wellington Phoenix
Date:
 Wednesday 17 August 2022
Time: 7:30pm AEST
Venue: Casey Fields
Tickets: CLICK HERE

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This article was originally published on the Australia Cup website.
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