#2 City Blues rocked by niggles, shaky defensively
"Our players had injuries, the Centre backs had niggles and four inexperienced players had to start the game," Melbourne City manager Warren Joyce was left ruing after the match. "We gave a few easy goals and made a lot of mistakes, but its pre-season and we know what areas we have to work on," he conceded.
Indeed, the City Blues were without Bart Schenkeveld, Osama Malik (Joyce's trusted men in defence) and had to field a three-man backline. The shake-up seemed to have harnessed the well-oiled machine at the back as Girona's forwards made merry through most of the 90 minutes. Scott Jamieson and Co. struggled to keep up with the opposition's swift passing and ended up conceding half a dozen goals.