Recap
Metropolitan is the only team yet to register a win this season. They came up against a Fitzroy side that has had a slower than expected start to the season with just two wins out of its first five games. Fitzroy would have to do without star signing Rico Zulkarnain, who picked up a groin injury in training this week.
The game started out as a cagey affair with both teams focusing on their defensive shape, with the objective of not conceding the first goal of the game. Fitzroy got on the front foot, bombarding Metropolitan with wave after wave of dynamic attacking play; but Metropolitan’s defence was stubborn and resilient, making life difficult for Fitzroy. The breakthrough eventually came after a wonderful solo run from Angelo Fusca was finished calmly by Llewelyn Stone. Fitzroy doubled its lead before the interval through a goal from Gabriel Lucena.
Metropolitan took the ascendancy in the second half, taking the game to Fitzroy and forcing them to play on the counterattack. Fitzroy’s defence was solid in a manner that mirrored Metro’s defensive effort in the first half. The half ebbed and flowed as both teams went goal for goal with Metro cutting Fitzroy’s lead to one multiple times, even receiving a helping hand from Fitzroy’s Leonardo Correa, who scored an unlucky own-goal. Despite a gutsy effort from Metro which culminated in a breathtaking final minute of the match where it pushed all its players forward in search for an equaliser that would take the game to a penalty shootout, Fitzroy held on, winning the game by five goals to four.