Newcastle Jets 2 - 1 Melbourne City
Newcastle Jets played Melbourne City in what ended up being the last game of soccer to be played in the A-League for a while.
Melbourne City played in their standard 4-3-3 formation - Maclaren was up top running the channels, Wales and Susaeta started wide, Luna provided bursts from midfield and Atkinson came up on the overlap from rightback. Jamieson tucked into midfield with Brillante, while Metcalfe provided energy in the middle.
Newcastle Jets lined up in a 3-4-2-1, with the wingbacks O’Toole and Millar going up and down the flanks, Ledley and Ugarkovic providing durability in the middle, and Petratos and Fitzgerald tucking inside to find space in between the lines.
Brillante was the key man for City, with much of the play going through him. He offered an option going forward for the centrebacks, and was always in good positions to circulate play. He made up 91 of the 588 passes that City attempted, and had a pass completion rate of 95%. His passing wasn’t particularly penetrative, laying the ball off to players like Atkinson, Jamieson and Luna to make things happen.
Newcastle’s back line was fairly deep, and with five defenders in the box, two midfielders sitting deep, and the attacking midfielders tracking back, it was difficult for City to threaten. The deep line meant it was difficult for Maclaren to win balls off runs into the channels, and Luna’s bursts from deep were covered off by Topor-Stanley. Atkinson motored up on the overlap, but his final product continued to disappoint. They only managed four shots in the first half, none of which really threatened the goal. The liveliest option was Wales, who would look to cut inside and then cross or shoot.
It certainly looked like City weren’t up to scratch - probably related to their having played their last game away three days ago.
Newcastle in attack
Newcastle slowed down the tempo significantly when they had the ball, with most of their possession being held in their half of the pitch, with the centrebacks patiently passing between themselves, the midfielders and the wingbacks, inviting the City press forward.
City’s press was fairly high and narrow. Early, the front three pressed the centrebacks, with Maclaren leading the press full of energy and Luna coming forward to pick up Ledley. Metcalfe started out by coming to Ugarkovic, but then Fitzgerald started popping in the space behind him to lay the ball off to Millar. As this happened a few times, Metcalfe had a decision to make - whether to move up the pitch, or to position himself to occupy the space instead. Brillante stayed more in the zone in front of the centrebacks.
As the game went on, City committed more players to the press in a 4-4-2 shape (diagram) - Luna pressed in the front line next to Maclaren to allow Wales and Susaeta to close the passing lanes to the wingbacks, and Brillante and Metcalfe stepped forward accordingly to cover the midfielders. This emptied out the space in front of the defence in between the lines, and Newcastle made them pay using two methods:
Petratos and Fitzgerald coming into this space. Brillante, the deeper of the two midfielders, couldn’t cover the passing lanes to both players, who would find space on either side of him. When they got the ball, they would either play the ball to the wingbacks who were wide, or turn and drive forwards themselves.
Wingbacks pushed forwards. Their width meant that the fullbacks had to follow them wide or risk them being left unmarked on the outside.
The first goal showcased all of this:
High Melbourne City press with six players committed
Metcalfe and Brillante hesistant to go too far forwards to track the midfielders
Atkinson caught between Petratos and O’Toole, Petratos coming deep into space to make the pass
Jamieson caught between Fitzgerald and Millar, opening up the channel for Fitzgerald to run into
Second Half
The second half started with more of the same until the two attacking substitutions from City. Noone came on for Susaeta and Berenguer replaced Metcalfe. Noone stayed wide on the right, providing an option for an out ball, and creating overloads on the right with Luna and Atkinson. Atkinson’s overlapping runs provided Noone the opportunity to step inside with the ball and look to cross or shoot. When the ball was on the opposite side, he would come across to provide an option centrally to play balls over the top, including a delightful ball for Luna.
Berenguer appeared in the hole more on the left hand side, looking to work with Wales. In the first half, Wales was frequently on his own, with Jamieson reluctant to come too far forwards. He also provided direct running and options in and around the box.
The two substitutes combined for the goal - Berenguer switching the play over to Noone who stepped inside to cross and Berenguer popping up to head in the cross.
As the game started to open up, with both sides getting chances, until Newcastle’s second goal. They managed to play through the press, and then find an easy ball to Petratos behind Brillante. The move ends up with Ugarkovic popping up with time on the edge of the box to score a great goal. Perhaps it’s a bit harsh on Luna, who was full of running the entire game, but the area from which Ugarkovic scored is the kind of area where you might expect Luna to be occupying in defence.
City continued knocking on the door, but were unable to make any progress through Newcastle’s packed box, and Newcastle looked more likely to score through their counterattacks, with Ibini-Isei providing a good out ball and hold-up play for Newcastle transitioning out of defence, and City unable to make any progress through Newcastle’s packed box.
And just like that, the A-League concluded its play for the next few weeks. I’m going to be looking at a few different things over the next few weeks - stay tuned.