Jamie Maclaren stars as Melbourne City hold on against Sydney FC

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:09 am

A refreshed Melbourne City revived their stuttering A-League campaign by exacting some revenge on Sydney FC with a hard-fought 3-2 victory in their grand-final rematch.

After last playing 16 days ago, City jumped the reigning champions with first-half goals to star striker Jamie Maclaren (eighth minute) and Adrian Luna (28th) which set-up Tuesday night's victory at AAMI Park.

But the party was far from over for City despite Maclaren looking to have sealed the victory in the 54th minute when he put away his second goal after taking advantage of some untidy Sky Blues defence.

However, Sydney FC got going in the second half and gave the hosts some nervous moments when Patrick Wood (90th minute) followed up fellow substitute Milos Ninkovic's 72nd-minute goal.

City looked far more like the team that made it into extra-time in the club's first grand final last year rather than the one that entered the match 10th on the table with six points from their first six games this season.

Jamie Maclaren celebrates one of his goals with Craig Noone.
Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

Their third victory of the season took some heat off coach Patrick Kisnorbo, who has had the difficult job of following up Frenchman Erick Mombaerts' outstanding one-season stint in charge.

Despite controlling possession, nothing went right early for the Sky Blues as they slumped to their second loss in a season where they are aiming for a historic third-straight title.

Sky Blues skipper Alex Wilkinson was handed an early yellow card on a night where he became the fifth player to bring up 300 A-League appearances.

Just minutes later, midfielder Luke Brattan slammed his head on the ground after contesting a high ball.

The 30-year-old lay motionless on the pitch for several minutes before walking off the field and taking no further part in the match.