City have found themselves back in the winners circle after a dominating performance in Wellington on Friday evening.

A wonderful sight, getting home from work on a Friday afternoon to an immediate bout of City football – and it was obvious that we were after the three points from the opening whistle.

There were multiple chances early on, with Marco Tilio glancing a free header off-target after making a darting run into the box. Not long after, Kai Trewin repeated the action, heading a great chance past the wrong side of the goalpost.

In the second half, Mathew Leckie made his presence known quickly after coming on for Zane Schreiber, his class enabling the team to turn up the heat and put early pressure on Wellington.

In the 51st minute, Kavian Rahmani poked a toe into a loose Wellington possession in order to set Andres Kuen free. The Austrian played a soft ball ahead of Max Caputo, who fortunately didn’t reach it, as it found the perfect player for the situation – a left-footed Tilio in his element. The proceeding shot was smashed with venom into the back of the net, leaving the Phoenix keeper with little to no chance.

City continued to largely dominate the game, with Lawrence Wong dancing past two defenders before his shot was deflected by a third Wellington man into the back of the goal. Unfortunately, this goal was called offside due to Ben Mazzeo finding himself a toenail offside in the lead up.

Here is what we learned from the game:

We’re back on track

One key talking point from this game is that our season is more than certainly back on track after a slowing down for a moment there. With seven points from our previous three games, your City boys find themselves second in the standings.

With Adelaide falling off the pace as of late, there is a good chance we’ll remain at least in the top four by the end of the matchday! And on top of that, due to the way that this league is shaping up, there is a real possibility that anyone can win silverware this season (the toilet seat, specifically… unless Auckland implode).

So why not us? Why not the team with the second best defense in the league? The team that have been accosted by injuries but still remain afloat? The talent is there. If a few more chances go in, we can seriously cause some damage.

One player who has been a literal saviour this season is none other than Patrick Beach. If we’re even close to the top of the league by the start of May, he’ll be owed plenty of pints in the post-season.

Composure is needed

We dominated the game, there is no question about that, but how many of our 19 shots on goal came from well-worked opportunities? Not many. There were plenty of moments where positive link up play seemed to devolve into second-guessing and uncertainty as the boys made their way into the box.

Look at Rahmani for example. A great player with plenty of promise, a nice touch, and great vision. The only thing missing was composure in the final moments. Unable to place the right amount of weight on the crucial pass. That not only goes for the youngsters but also the likes of Nathaniel Atkinson and Tilio at times.

Where is the sureness? The self-belief? Wong seems to be full of it, and that is putting it lightly. The kid comes on and only needed a few minutes to make the Wellington defence look cartoonish.

While our domination is certainly a plus, there are things we can work on before we get to the pointy end of the season. If we make those improvements, who knows what can happen?

More striker uncertainty

If you were to bet who would be our striker come finals time, you’re a braver person than I am. I have not got the slightest clue who will be starting up top by then!

Max Caputo has returned from injury and, for the most part, been solid – but I still have my doubts. Some of the runs he makes aren’t really suited for his physique or playstyle, and sometimes I feel he is a bit flat-footed, especially during build-up play. While match fitness does take some time to build up after returning from injury, I had been really impressed by the young Medin Memeti earlier in the season.

So, who is it going to be? All we know is that City have multiple young talents to choose from. Aurelio Vidmar just needs to deal with that headache and pick the right man for the job.