Report: De Laet, Fornaroli on target as City cruise past Phoenix

Melbourne City cruised to a 2-0 victory over Wellington Phoenix in Friday night’s Remembrance Round encounter at AAMI Park.

Ritchie De Laet’s early drive put Warren Joyce’s side in the driving seat before a Bruno Fornaroli stunner established an unassailable two-goal buffer in the second half.

City had lost seven of their past nine Friday Hyundai A-League matches prior to kick off, but victory in this one was scarcely in doubt.

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De Laet sent Joyce’s side on their way in the tenth minute, meeting Lachlan Wales’ cutback on the edge of the box with a rasping low drive.

City’s Belgian fullback would then see a left-footed snapshot picked off by Wellington goalkeeper Filip Kurto, who also held his ground impressively to deny Bruno Fornaroli one on one in the first half.

But Phoenix’s Polish shot-stopper could do nothing about the Uruguayan’s wonderful effort from outside the area early in the second half.

With City building patiently around the area, Fornaroli controlled a pass from Riley McGree before unleashing an unstoppable curling effort to open his account for the Hyundai A-League Season 2018/19.

Besides a first half Sarpreet Singh free kick that was saved by Eugene Galekovic, Wellington were bereft of any genuine scoring opportunities and struggled to make their attacking presence felt.

Instead, it was goalkeeper Kurto that emerged with the biggest plaudits, with his stop from McGree’s fierce strike late on going alongside a catalogue of fine saves on a disappointing night for the visitors.