AAP Soccer

City huff and puff but can't blow Sydney down in ALM

Jan 4, 2026

Geman Ferreyra and Abel Walatee — Geman Ferreyra (left) of Melbourne City and Abel Walatee of Sydney FC compete for possession. -AAP Image

Melbourne City boss Aurelio Vidmar says his players need to address their goalscoring woes after they were held to a frustrating 0-0 draw with Sydney FC.

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Handily controlling possession and territory at AAMI Park on Saturday, City had 23 shots to Sydney's seven and threw themselves forward with increasing abandon in pursuit of a winner, but they still couldn't beat Sky Blues' keeper Harrison Devenish-Meares.

Missing out on the chance to move into the top six, City are now winless in their last four league games and have only scored once from open play in that run – an Andrew Nabbout strike that came when they were already 3-0 down against Perth.

After scoring five in their first two league matches, the A-League Men champions have only netted six goals in their nine fixtures since, while only Western Sydney and Central Coast have fewer wins than their three in 2025-26.

"They've got to regulate themselves," said Vidmar.

"I'd be more concerned if guys were missing a chance and when another opportunity arrives, they decide to do something different.

"The better players are always coming back to the well.

"If they miss a chance, it doesn't matter, they get back in again and eventually it falls."

While the draw broke a run of eight-straight defeats against City at AAMI Park, Sydney rarely looked like troubling the hosts and missed out on the chance to vault Auckland into top spot on the table.

Missing the attacking impetus of the injured Joe Lolley, the rare chances Sydney constructed lacked quality finishing, and they completed just 23 passes in City's half, compared to the 197 Melbourne made in theirs, in the second stanza.

"There was a nice little door ajar for us to take another step forward but we didn't leap through the door, unfortunately," said Sydney coach Ufuk Talay.

"The boys defended well. We didn't want to defend for that long but overall, one point away from home against City, we'll take that."

With Socceroos' coach Tony Popovic watching in the stands, veteran defender Aziz Behich was outstanding as he led City's hunt for a breakthrough, with the skipper joining Andreas Kuen, Samuel Souprayen, and impressive 18-year-old Medin Memeti in coming agonisingly close.

But City were left frustrated and are counting the cost of late injuries to Takeshi Kanamori (groin) and Kavian Rahmani, who may have suffered a potentially serious knee injury.