A deflated John van 't Schip accused his Melbourne City side of playing like Melbourne Victory's poor cousins in the first derby of the A-League season.
After conceding two goals, City burst into life late in the first Melbourne derby of the season through two goals in three minutes from Bruno Fornaroli and Stefan Mauk.
Van 't Schip's side were coming home with a head of steam but fell short at the last when Besart Berisha nicked a win in the 90th minute.
The Dutch coach agreed it was a heartbreaking way to lose a match, but was more concerned with the side first-half effort where the underdogs were barely in the contest.
"We had too much respect," van 't Schip said.
"The first half we were not playing at our level. We were flat, we were not ourselves."
It took a sharp half-time team-talk for van 't Schip to get his side into the contest.
"What I said was losing a game is not nice."
"But losing a game without really going for it, fighting for it, or showing what you can give to the people, that is double disappointment
"If this is the way we're going to give away the game, after the game I don't think you can look each other in the eye."
It was enough to spur City to regain credibility against the A-League champions, and show signs of promise for the season ahead.
What followed was an inspirational effort from Aaron Mooy, combined with strong efforts from substitutes Steve Kuzmanovski and goalscorers Stefan Mauk and Bruno Fornaroli.
The Uruguayan troubled Victory's defence all night and embarrassed well-credentialled Frenchman Matthieu Delpierre to score City's first goal, squeezing past the lanky Frenchman and prodding home.
He was one of a few City players to produce throughout the entire game and van 't Schip said he would continue to improve after breaking his A-League duck.
"Bruno is a fighter, he's a player that will go 90 minutes and give you the energy that everyone wants to see."
"He's only going to get stronger and better."
Share
