Toyota Yaris LaLiga World: Kerala Blasters vs Melbourne City - Five Talking Points
The Toyota Yaris La Liga World pre-season tournament kicked off in emphatic fashion at the Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium in Kochi with Melbourne City cruising to a thumping 6-0 win against the hosts Kerala Blasters.
The A-League outfit dominated the proceedings right from the start and continued to enjoy the fair share of possession before breaking the deadlock in the 30th minute through Dario Vidosic.
Riley McGree extended their lead just three minutes later and helped City end the first half with a comfortable lead over the hosts. Both teams made a number of changes for the second half and it further opened up the game in favour of the visitors as they pushed on to capitalize on the inexperience of their counterparts to pile on the misery by adding four more goals.
Lachlan Wales added the third goal in the 50th minute while McGree, who was adjudged man of the match for his performance, scored his second of the night just seven minutes later before goals from Ramy Najjarine and Bruno Fornaroli completed the rout, 12 minutes from full-time.
Melbourne City will now face Girona on the 27th of July while Kerala Blasters are scheduled to face the same opposition on the 28th, to cap off the inter-continental tournament. Without further delay, let's take a closer look at the five major talking points from the game:
#1 Melbourne City maintain consistent away record
Melbourne City FC looked comfortable on the ball ever since the start and managed to recycle possession effectively to help the A-League outfit establish their authority on the game in the opening minutes.
Warren Joyce’s men were constantly knitting passes together, thanks to the mobility of Brattan in midfield, and were patient in their build-up to the circumstances that led to the opening goal in the 30th minute.
Dario Vidosic's header that broke the deadlock on the night meant that City have now extended their astonishing run of scoring in every single away game since the beginning of last season. This particular fixture is maybe as far as away games are concerned for the side but the team did well to justify their reputation as the annoying visitors.