A 95th minute header from Ben Mazzeo salvaged a crucial 1-1 draw for Melbourne City in the first leg of their ACL Elite Round of 16 clash with Buriram United on Tuesday night.
The reigning Thai Champions snatched the lead at AAMI Park in the 37th minute care of a thumping strike from Brazilian Guilherme Bissoli.
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City enjoyed plenty of the ball on home soil and wasted a guilt-edged chance to equalise in the 69th minute as the lively Marcus Younis put one on a plate for Daniel Arzani, however the Socceroo steered his effort wide of the target from close range.
Buriram had a flurry of late chances to extend their lead and thought they had a penalty awarded deep into stoppage time only for Bissoli to be shown a yellow card for diving, and that moment would prove to be crucial.
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Flying straight up the other end, City got the ball to Younis and the winger produced a superb cross for Mazzeo to head home at the back post, sending the home crowd into raptures.
The result means the tie is now evenly poised heading into next week’s second leg at the Chang Arean in Thailand on Tuesday, March 10.
“I thought (it was a) reasonably even game. I think we could have done a little bit better in the front third,” said Vidmar when speaking at his post-match press conference.
“In the first half, they hardly entered our penalty box in that first half up until until the goal. So it was disappointing to concede a goal like that.
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“But we managed to find a way, and we managed to fight our way. I know we left it late, but we certainly deserved that much. I think it’s an even tie going into Thailand next week.
He added: “It’s certainly important that we scored. If we went 1-0 down going there you know, there’s always probably a little bit more lack of belief.
“But I thought we thoroughly deserved what we got tonight. I thought we were a team that wanted to be on the front foot as much as we could.
“Yeah, we could be a little bit more cleaner in the front third, for sure. But we know going to Buriram is a very difficult task.
“So we still have to go in there with the right mindset, positive mindset, a lot of belief to get a result next week.”
*Main image Credit: The AFC
