2016–17 Melbourne City FC season

Melbourne City 2016-17
Club information
Manager	John van 't Schip (to 3 January 2017) Michael Valkanis (from 3 January 2017)
League Season information
Final League position	4th
Highest position	2nd
lowest position	4th
Points	39
Goals for	49
Goals against	44
Goals difference	+5
Cup placements
A-League Finals Series	Elimination-finals
FFA Cup	Champions
Season statistics
Matches played	33 (8 friendlies)
Top goalscorer	League: Bruno Fornaroli (17 goals) All: Bruno Fornaroli (20 goals)
Biggest home win	4−0 vs Newcastle Jets (18 March 2017)
Biggest away win	1−5 vs Wellington Phoenix (18 February 2017)
Biggest home attendance	24,706 vs Melbourne Victory (17 December 2016)
Biggest away attendance	43,188 vs Melbourne Victory (15 October 2016)
← 2015–16	2017–18 →

The 2016–17 Melbourne City FC season was the club's seventh season since its establishment in 2009. The club competed in the A-League for the seventh time and competed in the FFA Cup for the third time.

The club won the FFA Cup, its first ever silverware as a senior men's team.

On 3 January 2017, manager John van 't Schip resigned from his position to return to the Netherlands and help care for his terminally-ill father. Michael Valkanis was subsequently appointed manager for the remainder of the season.

Players

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK Thomas Sørensen 2 DF Manny Muscat 3 DF Joshua Rose 5 DF Ivan Franjic 6 DF Osama Malik 7 FW Corey Gameiro 8 MF Neil Kilkenny 9 MF Nicolás Colazo (On loan from Boca Juniors) 10 MF Anthony Cáceres (On loan from Manchester City) 11 MF Bruce Kamau 12 FW Nick Fitzgerald 14 FW Daniel Arzani

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 FW Tim Cahill 18 DF Paulo Retre 20 GK Dean Bouzanis 21 DF Ruon Tongyik 22 DF Michael Jakobsen 23 FW Bruno Fornaroli (Captain) 26 MF Luke Brattan (On loan from Manchester City) 27 MF Fernando Brandán 28 FW Steve Kuzmanovski 29 FW Braedyn Crowley 34 MF Denis Genreau 36 DF Dylan Pierias 42 GK James Delianov

Transfers in

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Age	Moving from	Type	Transfer window	Ends	Transfer fee	Source
2	DF	MLT	Manny Muscat	31		Wellington Phoenix	Transfer	Pre-season	2018	Free
11	MF	AUS	Bruce Kamau	21		Adelaide United	Transfer	Pre-season	2018	Free
14	FW	AUS	Daniel Arzani	17			Transfer	Pre-season	2018	Free
26	MF	AUS	Luke Brattan	26		Manchester City	Loan	Pre-season	2017	Free
21	DF	AUS	Ruon Tongyik	19		Adelaide United Youth	Transfer	Pre-season	2018	Free
8	MF	AUS	Neil Kilkenny	30			Transfer	Pre-season	2018	Free
27	MF	ARG	Fernando Brandán	26		Temperley	Transfer	Pre-season	2018	Not Disclosed
17	FW	AUS	Tim Cahill	36			Transfer	Pre-season	2019	Free
3	DF	AUS	Joshua Rose	34		Central Coast Mariners	Transfer	Pre-season	2017	Free
22	DF	DEN	Michael Jakobsen	30		Esbjerg fB	Transfer	Pre-season	2018	Not Disclosed
9	MF	ARG	Nicolás Colazo	26		Boca Juniors	Loan	Pre-season	2017	Free
29	FW	AUS	Braedyn Crowley	19		Northcote City	Transfer	Pre-season	2018

Transfers out

N	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Age	Moving to	Type	Transfer window	Transfer fee	Source
2	DF	AUS	Alex Wilkinson	31		Sydney FC	Transfer	Pre-season	Free
3	DF	NIR	Aaron Hughes	36			End of contract	Pre-season	Free
14	MF	AUS	James Brown	26			End of contract	Pre-season	Free
16	MF	AUS	Jason Trifiro	27			End of contract	Pre-season	Free
17	FW	AUS	Wade Dekker	22			End of contract	Pre-season	Free
26	FW	AUS	Marc Marino	19			End of contract	Pre-season	Free
24	DF	AUS	Patrick Kisnorbo	35			Retired	Pre-season	Free
11	DF	AUS	Michael Zullo	27		Sydney FC	Transfer	Pre-season	Free
19	DF	AUS	Ben Garuccio	21		Adelaide United	Transfer	Pre-season	Free
9	FW	MTQ	Harry Novillo	24		Manisaspor	Transfer	Pre-season	Undisclosed
8	MF	AUS	Aaron Mooy	25		Manchester City	Transfer	Pre-season	Undisclosed
22	DF	AUS	Jack Clisby	24		Western Sydney Wanderers	Transfer	Pre-season	Free
25	MF	AUS	Jacob Melling	21		Western Sydney Wanderers	Transfer	Pre-season	Free
34	FW	AUS	Stefan Zinni	20		South Melbourne	Transfer	Mid-season
4	DF	AUS	Connor Chapman	22		Incheon United	Transfer	Mid-season	Undisclosed

Contracts extensions

Name	Position	Duration	Contract Expiry
Nick Fitzgerald	Attacking midfielder	2 years	2018
Anthony Cáceres	Central midfielder	1 year	2017
Bruno Fornaroli	Central striker	3 years	2019
Dean Bouzanis	Goalkeeper	3 years	2020

Statistics

Squad statistics

N	P	Nat.	Name	Total					A-League					A-League Finals Series					FFA Cup
				Apps	Goals				Apps	Goals				Apps	Goals				Apps	Goals
1	GK		Thomas Sørensen	11	0	0	0	1	7+1	0	0	0	1	0+0	0	0	0	0	3+0	0	0	0	0
2	DF		Manny Muscat	17	0	6	1	0	12+2	0	6	1	0	0+0	0	0	0	0	3+0	0	0	0	0
3	DF		Joshua Rose	26	0	5	0	0	22+0	0	4	0	0	1+0	0	1	0	0	3+0	0	0	0	0
5	DF		Ivan Franjic	23	1	1	0	0	19+1	1	1	0	0	1+0	0	0	0	0	1+1	0	0	0	0
6	DF		Osama Malik	22	0	9	0	0	14+3	0	8	0	0	1+0	0	0	0	0	4+0	0	1	0	0
7	FW		Corey Gameiro	0	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0
8	MF		Neil Kilkenny	29	2	10	0	0	24+0	2	10	0	0	1+0	0	0	0	0	4+0	0	0	0	0
9	MF		Nicolás Colazo	24	4	3	0	0	17+4	4	3	0	0	1+0	0	0	0	0	1+1	0	0	0	0
10	MF		Anthony Cáceres	31	3	4	0	0	16+10	2	4	0	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	3+1	1	0	0	0
11	MF		Bruce Kamau	30	1	1	0	0	18+7	1	1	0	0	1+0	0	0	0	0	4+0	0	0	0	0
12	FW		Nick Fitzgerald	28	5	1	0	0	9+13	4	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	3+2	1	1	0	0
14	FW		Daniel Arzani	7	0	0	0	0	0+6	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0	0
17	FW		Tim Cahill	26	13	4	0	1	17+4	11	3	0	1	1+0	0	1	0	0	3+1	2	0	0	0
18	MF		Paulo Retre	13	0	3	0	0	4+6	0	3	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0	1+2	0	0	0	0
20	GK		Dean Bouzanis	24	0	3	0	0	20+1	0	3	0	0	1+0	0	0	0	0	2+0	0	0	0	0
21	DF		Ruon Tongyik	15	0	3	0	0	12+2	0	3	0	0	1+0	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0
22	DF		Michael Jakobsen	20	1	4	0	0	16+0	0	3	0	0	1+0	0	0	0	0	3+0	1	1	0	0
23	FW		Bruno Fornaroli	32	20	5	0	0	26+0	17	5	0	0	1+0	0	0	0	0	5+0	3	0	0	0
26	MF		Luke Brattan	31	2	8	0	0	24+1	1	7	0	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	5+0	1	1	0	0
27	MF		Fernando Brandán	24	5	6	0	1	13+6	3	5	0	1	0+0	0	0	0	0	3+2	2	1	0	0
28	FW		Steve Kuzmanovski	1	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0	0
29	FW		Braedyn Crowley	1	0	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0
34	MF		Denis Genreau	4	0	1	0	0	2+2	0	1	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0
35	DF		Christian Cavallo†	1	0	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0
36	DF		Bradley Clarke†	1	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0	0
36	DF		Dylan Pierias	1	0	0	0	0	1+0	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0
40	GK		Yaren Sozer†	0	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0
41	FW		Yusuf Ahmed†	0	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0
42	GK		James Delianov	0	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0
Players no longer at the club:
4	DF		Connor Chapman	9	0	1	0	0	4+1	0	1	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0	3+1	0	0	0	0
22	DF		Jack Clisby	1	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0	1+0	0	0	0	0
25	MF		Jacob Melling	0	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0	0+0	0	0	0	0

Last updated: 23 April 2017 Source: au.soccerway.com = Number of bookings; = Number of sending offs after a second yellow card; = Number of sending offs by a direct red card.

† = NPL/NYL-listed player

Pre-season and friendlies

20 July 2016	Port Melbourne	0–5	Melbourne City	Melbourne, Australia
19:15 AEST		Report	Fornaroli  28', 45+1' (pen.) Retre  67' Melling  85' Wong  86'	Stadium: SS Anderson Reserve

26 July 2016	Melbourne Knights	0–4	Melbourne City	Melbourne, Australia
19:30 AEST		Report	Fornaroli  21', 47', 63' Muscat  26'	Stadium: Knights Stadium

16 August 2016	Hume City	1–0	Melbourne City	Melbourne, Australia
	Markelis  87'	Report		Stadium: ABD Stadium

17 August 2016	Melbourne City	1–0	Adelaide United	Melbourne, Australia
	Fornaroli  15' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: City Football Academy Attendance: 0 (behind closed doors)

7 September 2016	Northern Fury	1–4	Melbourne City	Townsville, Australia
19:00 AEST	Waples  71' (pen.)	Report	Kamau  5' Brattan  18' Crowley  48' Ahmed  87'	Stadium: Townsville Sports Reserve Attendance: 1,300 Referee: Jarred Gillett

11 September 2016	Melbourne City	1–4	Wellington Phoenix	Townsville, Australia
15:00 AEST	Cahill  15'	Report	Krishna  19', 45+1' Finkler  40', 56'	Stadium: Townsville Sports Reserve Attendance: 3,856

18 September 2016	Melbourne City	0–4	Newcastle Jets	Ballarat, Australia
15:00 AEST		Report	Nabbout  16' Nordstrand  44', 71' Brymora  79'	Stadium: Morshead Park Referee: Jonathan Barreiro

Family Day 25 September 2016	Melbourne City	2–0	Auckland City	Melbourne, Australia
10:00 AEST	Colazo  77' Cahill  90'	Report		Stadium: City Football Academy

Competitions

Overall

Competition	Started round	Final position / round	First match	Last match
A-League	—	4th	8 October 2016	16 April 2017
A-League Finals	Elimination-finals	Elimination-finals	23 April 2017	23 April 2017
FFA Cup	Round of 32	Champions	2 August 2016	30 November 2016

A-League

Main article: 2016–17 A-League

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Sydney FC  (C)	27	20	6	1	55	12	+43	66	Qualification to Champions League group stage and Finals series
2	Melbourne Victory	27	15	4	8	49	31	+18	49
3	Brisbane Roar	27	11	9	7	43	37	+6	42	Qualification to Champions League qualifying play-off and Finals series
4	Melbourne City	27	11	6	10	49	44	+5	39	Qualification to Finals series
5	Perth Glory	27	10	9	8	53	53	0	39
6	Western Sydney Wanderers	27	8	12	7	35	35	0	36
7	Wellington Phoenix	27	8	6	13	41	46	−5	30
8	Central Coast Mariners	27	6	5	16	31	52	−21	23
9	Adelaide United	27	5	8	14	25	46	−21	23
10	Newcastle Jets	27	5	7	15	28	53	−25	22

Source: A-League
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd number of goals scored.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round; (Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
27	11	6	10	49	44	+5	39	7	3	3	24	18	+6	4	3	7	25	26	−1

Last updated: 16 April 2017
Source: ultimatealeague.com

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27
Ground	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A
Result	W	W	L	W	L	W	D	W	D	D	L	D	D	W	L	W	L	L	D	W	L	W	W	L	L	W	L
Position	2	2	3	2	3	2	2	2	2	2	4	4	4	3	3	3	4	4	4	3	4	3	3	3	4	3	4

Last updated: 16 April 2017.
Source: ultimatealeague.com
Ground: A = Away; H = Home. Result: D = Draw; L = Lose; W = Win; P = Postponed.
      Win       Draw       Loss

Matches

1 8 October 2016	Wellington Phoenix	0–1	Melbourne City	Wellington
19:35 NZDT		Report	Cáceres  31'	Stadium: Westpac Stadium Attendance: 10,034 Referee: Peter Green

2 15 October 2016	Melbourne Victory	1–4	Melbourne City	Melbourne
19:50 AEDT	Rojas  62'	Report .....	Cahill  27' Fornaroli  31' Brattan  52' Brandán  63'	Stadium: Etihad Stadium Attendance: 43,188 Referee: Chris Beath

3 21 October 2016	Melbourne City	2–3	Perth Glory	Melbourne
19:50 AEDT	Fornaroli  44' (pen.) Brandán  60'	Report	Keogh  7', 49', 85'	Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 8,076 Referee: Alan Milliner

4 28 October 2016	Melbourne City	2–1	Adelaide United	Melbourne
19:50 AEDT	Fornaroli  11', 56' (pen.)	Report	Guardiola  64'	Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 10,053 Referee: Chris Beath

5 4 November 2016	Brisbane Roar	1–0	Melbourne City	Brisbane
18:50 AEST	Maclaren  11'	Report		Stadium: Suncorp Stadium Attendance: 20,198 Referee: Peter Green

6 10 November 2016	Melbourne City	2–1	Newcastle Jets	Melbourne
19:50 AEDT	Fornaroli  14', 26'	Report	Nabbout  36'	Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 7,745 Referee: Adam Fielding

7 18 November 2016	Western Sydney Wanderers	1–1	Melbourne City	Sydney
19:50 AEDT	Kilkenny  90+2' (o.g.)	Report	Cahill  55'	Stadium: Spotless Stadium Attendance: 14,232 Referee: Chris Beath

8 27 November 2016	Melbourne City	2–1	Wellington Phoenix	Melbourne
17:00 AEDT	Fitzgerald  44' Fornaroli  71' (pen.)	Report	Krishna  60'	Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 10,644 Referee: Kurt Ams

9 3 December 2016	Melbourne City	1–1	Brisbane Roar	Melbourne
19:50 AEDT	Colazo  54'	Report	Maclaren  38'	Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 8,394 Referee: Shaun Evans

10 9 December 2016	Sydney FC	1–1	Melbourne City	Sydney
19:50 AEDT	Bobô  80' (pen.)	Report	Brandán  32'	Stadium: ANZ Stadium Attendance: 14,668 Referee: Kris Griffiths-Jones

11 17 December 2016	Melbourne City	1–2	Melbourne Victory	Melbourne
19:50 AEDT	Cahill  16'	Report	Rojas  24' Berisha  78'	Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 24,706 Referee: Jarred Gillett

12 27 December 2016	Melbourne City	3–3	Perth Glory	Melbourne
19:50 AEDT	Cahill  9' Fornaroli  36', 61' (pen.)	Report	Castro  21', 40' Harold  64'	Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 11,269 Referee: Shaun Evans

13 31 December 2016	Central Coast Mariners	2–2	Melbourne City	Gosford
19:00 AEDT	Buhagiar  77' O'Donovan  85'	Report	Cahill  40' Fornaroli  90' (pen.)	Stadium: Central Coast Stadium Attendance: 11,184 Referee: Jonathan Barreiro

14 6 January 2017	Melbourne City	1–0	Western Sydney Wanderers	Melbourne
19:50 AEDT	Franjic  19'	Report		Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 10,731 Referee: Alan Milliner

15 12 January 2017	Adelaide United	2–1	Melbourne City	Adelaide
19:30 ACDT	McGowan  10' Ochieng  87'	Report	Fornaroli  4'	Stadium: Coopers Stadium Attendance: 10,607 Referee: Jonathan Barreiro

16 19 January 2017	Melbourne City	2–1	Central Coast Mariners	Melbourne
19:50 AEDT	Cahill  3', 39'	Report	O'Donovan  9'	Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 8,784 Referee: Daniel Elder

17 27 January 2017	Newcastle Jets	2–1	Melbourne City	Coffs Harbour
19:50 AEDT	Nabbout  14', 52'	Report	Fornaroli  69' (pen.)	Stadium: C.ex Coffs International Stadium Attendance: 7,891 Referee: Kurt Ams

18 4 February 2017	Melbourne Victory	2–1	Melbourne City	Melbourne
19:50 AEDT	Berisha  84') Muscat  86' (o.g.)	Report	Baró  70' (o.g.)	Stadium: Etihad Stadium Attendance: 35,426 Referee: Chris Beath

19 11 February 2017	Melbourne City	2–2	Brisbane Roar	Melbourne
19:50 AEDT	Kamau  59' Colazo  61' (pen.)	Report	Maclaren  34' (pen.), 45+1'	Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 8,414 Referee: Alan Milliner

20 18 February 2017	Wellington Phoenix	1–5	Melbourne City	Wellington
19:35 NZDT	Barbarouses  70'	Report	Lowry  20' (o.g.) Fornaroli  29' Cáceres  59' Kilkenny  82' Colazo  87'	Stadium: Westpac Stadium Attendance: 6,131 Referee: Jonathan Barreiro

21 24 February 2017	Melbourne City	1–3	Sydney FC	Melbourne
19:50 AEDT	Fitzgerald  25'	Report	Bobô  24' (pen.), 67' O'Neill  56'	Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 10,706 Referee: Jarred Gillett

22 5 March 2017	Central Coast Mariners	2–3	Melbourne City	Gosford
17:00 AEDT	Ferreira  45' Tongyik  47' (o.g.)	Report	Fornaroli  4', 64' (pen.) Montgomery  16' (o.g.)	Stadium: Central Coast Stadium Attendance: 5,974 Referee: Adam Fielding

23 18 March 2017	Melbourne City	4–0	Newcastle Jets	Melbourne
19:50 AEDT	Cahill  12' Fitzgerald  65' Fornaroli  75' (pen.), 81'	Report		Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 8,949 Referee: Chris Beath

24 24 March 2017	Western Sydney Wanderers	3–1	Melbourne City	Sydney
19:50 AEDT	Santalab  22', 64', 68'	Report	Kilkenny  3'	Stadium: Spotless Stadium Attendance: 10,204 Referee: Jarred Gillett

25 1 April 2017	Sydney FC	3–0	Melbourne City	Sydney
19:50 AEDT	Brosque  57' Bobô  64', 90+1'	Report		Stadium: Allianz Stadium Attendance: 15,266 Referee: Peter Green

26 7 April 2017	Melbourne City	1–0	Adelaide United	Melbourne
19:50 AEST	Cahill  36'	Report		Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 9,438 Referee: Kris Griffiths-Jones

27 16 April 2017	Perth Glory	5–4	Melbourne City	Perth
17:00 AWST	Castro  4' (pen.) Keogh  51' Harold  55' Marinković  75' Taggart  88'	Report	Cahill  21', 80' Colazo  84' Fitzgerald  90'	Stadium: nib Stadium Attendance: 12,261 Referee: Peter Green

Finals series

Elimination-final 23 April 2017	Melbourne City	0–2	Perth Glory	Melbourne
19:00 AEST		Report	Castro  16' Chianese  30'	Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 9,944 Referee: Chris Beath

FFA Cup

Main article: 2016 FFA Cup

Round of 32 2 August 2016	Floreat Athena	1–2	Melbourne City	Perth
18:30 AWST	Gate  59'	Report	Fitzgerald  32' Cáceres  65'	Stadium: Dorrien Gardens Attendance: 1,408 Referee: Adam Fielding

Round of 16 24 August 2016	Brisbane Strikers	1–2	Melbourne City	Brisbane
19:30 AEST	Henslee  34'	Report	Fornaroli  37' (pen.), 78' (pen.)	Stadium: Perry Park Attendance: 3,571 Referee: Peter Green

Quarter-final 21 September 2016	Melbourne City	4–1	Western Sydney Wanderers	Melbourne
19:30 AEST	Jakobsen  2' Fornaroli  32' Cahill  45' (pen.) Brandán  65'	Report	Dimas  73'	Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 5,401 Referee: Jarred Gillett

Semi-final 25 October 2016	Melbourne Victory	0–2	Melbourne City	Melbourne
19:30 AEDT		Report	Brattan  9' Brandán  77'	Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 15,791 Referee: Shaun Evans

Final 30 November 2016	Melbourne City	1–0	Sydney FC	Melbourne
19:30 AEDT	Cahill  53'	Report		Stadium: AAMI Park Attendance: 18,751 Referee: Peter Green

External links

• Official Website

Melbourne City FC seasons

2010–11 · 2011-12 · 2012-13 · 2013-14 · 2014-15 · 2015-16 · 2016-17 · 2017-18 ·

2016–17 in Australian football
Domestic leagues
A-League · National Premier Leagues ('16, '17) · FFA Cup ('16, '17) (Preliminary Rounds ('16, '17) * Final ('16, '17)) · Australian Capital Territory ('16, '17) · New South Wales ('16, '17) · Northern NSW ('16, '17) · Queensland ('16, '17) · South Australia ('16, '17) · Tasmania ('16, '17) · Victoria ('16, '17) · Western Australia ('16, '17)
European competitions
Champions League ('16, '17)
Club seasons
Adelaide United · Brisbane Roar · Central Coast Mariners · Melbourne City · Melbourne Victory · Newcastle Jets · Perth Glory · Sydney FC · Wellington Phoenix · Western Sydney Wanderers
2015–16                                                        2017–18