90+4 min: Time for Sydney to make a time-wasting change – off goes two-goal hero Janko, and on comes Shane Smeltz.

90+2 min: The stats confirm what we already suspected – 60 per cent of possession to City this half.

90+1 min: And it’s City who have the wind in their sails now! First Marino is foiled by a last-ditch challenge and then Brown fires goalwards only to see his effort go straight to Janjetovic!

90 min: Five minutes of added time to be played… there’s still plenty of time for a final twist.

89 min: Dimitijevic is off! He’s given his marching orders for... er, not quite sure what for. Time wasting, Zelic reckons. But we stopped listening to him a long time ago. A bizarre one, whatever.

85 min: Janko, as we’ve been reminded about 248 times tonight, turned his back on an opportunity to captain Austria against Brazil in a friendly to turn out for Sydney at AAMI Park. Decision justified.

81 min: Sydney are living dangerously here, and they may well live to rue not having killed the game off when they had the chance to in the first half.

79 min: What’s going on here? A Sydney FC player sat on the bench, Aaron Culver I think, refuses to give Paartalu the ball back, so the City player pushes him over in his seat and for a moment it all kicks off. Once everything calms down, Wielaert gets booked, weirdly. Must have said something. To give you an idea of what happened, it was exactly like this:

77 min: Dugandzic’s night is over as he’s hauled off, Marino coming on to replace him. That’s City’s cards all played now. Thirteen minutes for the new man to make an impact on this game.

75 min: Ibini brings a good save out of Redmayne as Bojic storms on the overlap outside him, drawing the attention of the City defender and opening up a shooting chance.

71 min: Dimitrijevic is the next name to be taken by the referee, for a foul on Dugandzic. Again, the card is deserved.

69 min: Rhyan Grant is back! The Sydney man, who hasn’t played for a year, enters the fray. Ali Abbas makes way for him, very slowly, and much to the frustration of the home fans.

68 min: Another chance for Sydney as Ibini spins on a sixpence to turn his man and break free on the right hand side. He centres early but Kisnorbo gets there first to turn behind.

66 min: And City decide to make another change, as James Brown comes on to replace David Williams, who hasn’t enjoyed his best outing tonight.

64 min: Abbas and Kisnorbo have a bit of a set-to over on the far touchline as the Iraqui appears to go in a bit late. Kisnorbo reacts, Abbas grabs his head with both hands and then the City captain throws him off. Handbags. Cheap, K-Mart ones at that.

62 min: City come again – they’ve been the better side so far this half – but the move forward loses momentum as Duff bides his time and the Sydney back line are allowed to regroup.

59 min: Say what you like about Ned Zelic, who has been slightly more circumspect this half, but we should count ourselves fortunate that he hasn’t subjected us to an on-air orgasm yet. Yet.

55 min: Duff and Melling link up well to win a corner for City. Melling was very impressive last week, and already he’s looking good again tonight. A fine prospect.

54 min: My colleague Paul Connolly has been in touch on the email machine:

Putting the kids to bed, doing dishes, A-League on in the background in another room.... Zelic’s raised voice has me constantly rushing to the TV expecting to see a goal has been scored, or perhaps even the sight of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse doing dressage on the AAMI Park pitch.

52 min: City are unlucky not to get a corner as Paartalu’s cross appears to take a touch off a Sydney player before going out behind the goal. That came at the end of a lovely passing move from the hosts, who are increasingly looking confident in their ability tonight.

51 min: A Fox Sports poll reveals that 88 per cent of those polled think Janjetovic is the most improved player in the A-League this season. But don’t forget a similar number voted David Villa to be the greatest A-League import of all time after he scored in this fixture earlier in the season. Knee-jerks much? Nah.

49 min: Williams has an open goal to aim at as the ball falls to him on the volley, but his effort is fired down into the ground which takes the pace off it and it doesn’t reach its intended target. Janko steps in to make the clearance.

47 min: Graham Arnold has been ‘having a word’ with the fourth official about being reprimanded for leaving his coaching box. Apparently he’s not happy, given there are other A-League managers who do the same, but seem to get away with it. Or at least that’s what the intrepid Fox Sports touchline reporter reckons.

After his sensational first half performance, Ned Zelic is very nearly breaking the internet. Time for this:

45 min: Mooy with another chance for City as he ghosts in at the back stick to meet Duff’s deep cross but the returning Socceroo’s volley is poorly controlled and the ball pings way off target.

43 min: Before I put this Zelic thing to bed for the time being, for the sake of journalistic impartiality (something perhaps Ned needs to learn something about), it’s worth pointing out that there are those who dig his enthusiastic manner.

41 min: Duff turns and fires off a shot that is turned behind by Janjetovic as City begin to find a few ways through Sydney’s back line. Encouraging stuff from the hosts.

40 min: And another incredible chance for a second as Abbas is put clean through on goal but he’s almost got too much time to think about it and Redmaybe sticks out an arm to divert the ball round the post and behind for a corner.

38 min: Oh dear, this should be two for Sydney, but Janko makes a complete hash of it. He’s clean through on goal, but the ball gets stuck under his feet and he ends up backheeling it to Brosque, but by the time he gets it, Redmayne has narrowed the angle and makes the save.

35 min: Chance for City! But Dugandzic’s header from Williams’ inch-perfect cross is well saved by Janjetovic.

34 min: Here goes Ibini once again, as he turns on the afterburners on the right wing. He cuts the ball back across the face of goal, but Redmayne is able to push the ball out and Paartalu completes the clearance. Zelic rues the fact that Ibini didn’t go for goal himself. “GOALKEEPER! NEAR POST! BOOM!”

32 min: Hoffman lets fly with a decent effort after cutting in from the City right. But Janjetovic gets down well to make the save look comfortable.

30 min: Anyway, half an hour gone and in case you hadn’t heard (although given the volume old Ned is speaking at, you will have heard him, no matter where you are) Sydney are one up thanks to Janko’s goal. And the visitors are good for their lead, they’ve been well on top.

27 min: Ned Zelic is going to start trending soon. He really is putting in standout performance tonight. The People are outraged. All I’ll say is, I’m genuinely concerned for his health.

25 min: Zelic nearly explodes for a second time tonight as Bojic’s cross finds the head of Janko, but the Austrian’s effort hits the upright!

23 min: Petkovic sends a free-kick into the box which finds Janko backing into his marker. But the Austrian falls to the floor looking for a penalty. Nothing doing.

22 min: Zelic tells us that he was “going to give it a rest for a few minutes”, but he’s not. He’s still singing Janjetovic’s praises. And when I say singing, I mean shouting.

18 min: I fear for Ned Zelic at the moment. Twitter is reacting badly to his shouty storytelling. “Manuel Neuer in disguise” is his latest gem, referring to Janjetovic. Sorry, that should read “MANUEL NEUER IN DISGUISE”.

18 min: The yellow card is out. It’s for Bojic for tugging back the marauding Dugandzic. Deserved.

15 min: Is Ned Zelic the most, er, enthusiastic commentator in the world at the moment? He really does sound like he’s going to explode. Indeed, when Sydney’s goal went in, he vocalised his volatility with a huge “BOOOOOM”.

13 min: There was definite contact between Duff and Janjetovic there, and the Irishman was left fuming, flinging a mouthful of his disappointment in the direction of referee Griffiths-Jones.

12 min: Almost straight away City have a chance to restore parity as Duff springs the offside trap and races through on goal… but as the Irishman looks to slip the ball under the advancing Janjetovic, the keeper makes the save! Duff tries to hurdle Janjetovic to get to the loose ball and takes a tumble, prompting big shouts for a penalty, but the referee doesn’t buy it.

9 min: Petkovic plays a raking ball out to the Sydney right for Bojic to run onto. It’s a lovely ball from the Serb, whose passing game really is tip-top.

7 min: Ibini again threatens as he runs onto Janko’s nod on, but the flag goes up to signal that the Austrian was off side.

6 min: For a moment it looks like Ibini may be in as he takes down a long ball at the back stick. But he hesitates and when he does finally pull the trigger, there’s a white shirt there to make the block. Arnold goes mad on the bench, having clearly preferred his player to have taken a quick shot, despite the angle being tight.

5 min: City are trying to play little triangles down on the right flank to get out of trouble, but it doesn’t really come off too well and they’re lucky to get some breathing space with a throw in.

4 min: Here come City, on their first foray forward tonight. Dugandzic centres from the left wing, but it’s just too high for Mooy in the middle, and the it runs away from Duff behind him.

3 min: Janko uses his height here to nod on, but there’s no one running in behind and the ball bounces straight through to Redmayne.

1 min: Looks like a half decent pitch out there today – green, lush and stripey from the lawnmowers, if a little bumpy in patches.

The teams are in the tunnel, awaiting their grand entrance into the ground. They’re expecting around 14,000 in there tonight apparently, which is a cracking number for City.

The news on Ognenovski is that his hip is giving him too much grief to play tonight. And without his experience, Sydney’s fantastic defensive record may be seriously tested tonight.

FT: Western Sydney Wanderers 1-1Newcastle Jets

Today’s early kick-off is done and dusted and at Pirtek Stadium it ended in a stalemate after Marcos Flores cancelled out Tomi Juric’s opener. The pair still occupy the bottom two rungs on the A-League ladder.

Read the full match report here.

Some not-so-nice news from earlier today after events on the other side of Melbourne last night: two teenage boys have been arrested after a woman and a boy suffered burns from the lighting of flares during the match.

So, other than Mooy coming back into the side, there are no surprises in City’s line-up. Liam Miller, having signed until the end of the December, retains his place in a strong-looking midfield. Massimo Murdocca (groin), Jonatan Germano (hamstring) and Robert Koren (calf) remain sidelined, although Koren was seen being put through some light paces earlier and we could finally catch a glimpse of him in action in the coming weeks

Sasa Ognenovski is out for Sydney (no word on why yet), so Seb Ryall moves inside to centre-half and Pedj Bojic comes in at right-back. Matt Jurman remains out with his knee problem.

Party-animal players. A faithless chairman. Mutinous fans. Journalists with an agenda. All feature in the top five list of managerial pet hates (or they would if anyone had actually ever compiled a top-five list of managerial pet hates) but one thing must surely trump them all: international week. Just ask Paul Lambert of Aston Villa for his thoughts on the subject. Or, closer to home and far more relevant to tonight, Graham Arnold, after he welcomed back Corey Gameiro from an Australia under-23s match in China on Tuesday with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament. He will play no further part this season. Arnold may never admit it in public (what he did say was: “It’s great when they go away and play with the national team but this club seems to be unlucky when it comes to injuries”), but it at best it must be frustrating and at worst soul destroying to have players come back from international duty so badly crocked.

So Gameiro won’t play tonight, but Sydney will welcome back an unscathed Mark Janko, their marquee signing having safely returned from duty with Austria.

City too will benefit from a returning international star – Aaron Mooy, who comes back into the starting XI at the expense of Jacob Melling. More team news coming right up...

Mike will be here shortly to act as your ears and eyes tonight, but before he arrives, take the opportunity to have a read of Pete Smith’s piece on the big game in Melbourne.

Melbourne City have the chance to put the pain of last Sunday behind them when Sydney FC visit for the first instalment of the “sky blue derby” in the Victorian capital. The impact of the marketing types means there are now more derbies in the competition than not. Perhaps a riff on new money and old money would be more appropriate given Melbourne City’s aspirational splashing of cash and Sydney FC’s original “Bling FC” moniker. This week will be another chance for Melbourne City to score early and fade late as again illustrated in last week’s 2-2 draw against the Mariners. Remarkably Melbourne have scored half of their goals this season in the first 15 minutes, yet conceded seven of their 12 goals in the final 30 minutes. Scoring at all will be a feat in itself on Saturday given Sydney’s goal has been unbreached for the past four matches over seven hours. Admittedly the Sky Blues have ridden their luck at times.

Graham Arnold said recently he is not in the entertainment business, and it is clear his side have spent many hours on the training paddock ensuring some comedic defending last term is a thing of the past. The club have enjoyed a coup this week with the signing of the highly regarded Terry Antonis on a two-year deal, but have seemingly lost in-form forward Corey Gameiro for the season with a torn knee ligament.

Read Pete’s full weekend preview here.