Melbourne City Stage Astonishing Late Rally to Sink Buriram United 2-1, Shaking up AFC Champions League Group
For more than 70 minutes at AAMI Park, it seemed Melbourne City’s winless run in Asia would spiral deeper, their AFC Champions League campaign careening toward oblivion. The home side, battered by recent defeats and anchored at the foot of the group, trailed after Goran Čaušić’s deflected strike put Buriram United in front, the latest blow in a season already battered by disappointment.
But football, as it so often does, spurned the script. With their backs pressed firmly to the wall, Melbourne City summoned a stirring finish, two goals inside the final six minutes snatching a cathartic 2-1 victory from the jaws of despair and lighting a flicker of hope for a season that had been marred by frustration and near-misses.
Max Caputo, the teenager rapidly maturing into the club’s heartbeat, proved the difference yet again. His clinical 90th-minute finish—delivered with ice-cool precision—lifted a crowd desperate for a reason to believe, and lifted City off the foot of the table. For Caputo, whose early strike had secured a draw against Western Sydney Wanderers days earlier, the moment felt like the beginning of a new chapter, not just for himself, but for a Melbourne City side starved for momentum.
Tonight’s drama unfolded after a tense, at times scrappy, first half in which both sides labored to find rhythm, the tension of recent results never far beneath the surface. Melbourne City, winless in five and reeling from consecutive group-stage defeats to Vissel Kobe and Sanfrecce Hiroshima, struggled to create clear openings. Buriram United, by contrast, arrived buoyed by steadier league form, having put four past Ayutthaya FC last month and sitting mid-table in the group. Their confidence showed for spells, particularly through attacking midfielder Goran Čaušić, who orchestrated play with calm assurance.
It was Čaušić who broke the deadlock after 72 minutes, punishing a moment of slack marking from a set piece. The ball ricocheted kindly to the Serbian, whose left-foot effort flicked off a defender and beyond a stranded Jamie Young. Buriram, sensing a rare away win on Australian soil, tightened, dropping numbers deep and inviting City’s pressure.
Melbourne City’s response was urgent, if not always composed. Coaches urged the side forward, the crowd searching for signs of life as the clock ticked down. Then came the breakthrough: in the 84th minute, Elbasan Rashani latched onto an incisive pass in the left channel, kept his nerve, and rifled home an equalizer with a low shot that fizzed past the Buriram keeper. Suddenly, the match was transformed, City’s fans shaking off weeks of resignation in a surge of collective hope.
The momentum was irreversibly City’s now, Buriram’s composure fraying under the weight of the moment. As stoppage time dawned, City threw numbers forward in a last desperate push, and it was Caputo who provided the exclamation mark. Pouncing on a loose ball at the edge of the area, he skirted a challenge and threaded a precise finish into the far corner, sending AAMI Park into raptures and reshaping the complexion of the group.
Statistically, the victory did more than deliver relief—it altered the AFC Champions League landscape for both teams. Melbourne City, who began the night at the bottom of the group on zero points from two games, now find themselves within touching distance of relevance, having claimed their first points of the campaign. Buriram United, who had briefly climbed to seventh with three points, must reckon with a stinging defeat that threatens to unravel their early momentum. For the Thai champions, whose recent results have been a blend of attacking verve (as in their 4-1 thrashing of Ayutthaya) and defensive frailties, tonight’s loss offered a reminder of the margins that define continental competition.
Surprisingly, the encounter was marked by fair discipline, with no red cards issued—a testament to the high stakes, but also to the professionalism on display. In the context of their prior meetings, where both sides have typically traded close contests, tonight’s dramatic reversal felt entirely in keeping with their brief, but growing, rivalry.
For Melbourne City, the result is the kind of catalyst that can restore belief after a spell marked by struggles: a 1-1 domestic draw followed by three straight cup and Champions League defeats had left supporters and players alike searching for answers. Suddenly, with Caputo leading the line and Rashani rediscovering his scoring touch, the prospect of a late group-stage surge no longer feels fanciful.
Buriram United, whose continental adventure began brightly but now stutters, must quickly regroup. With the standings tightening and little margin for error, their response to tonight’s heartbreak will define their campaign every bit as much as Čaušić’s opener or their early season flair.
The path from here is clear: for Melbourne City, an improbable run is back on the table. For Buriram United, the road grows suddenly steeper, and the price of missteps sharpens. On one unforgettable night under the AAMI Park lights, fortunes tilted, and the AFC Champions League gained another unforgettable chapter.