More goalkeeping heroics from newly-capped Socceroo Patrick Beach have helped Melbourne City take a major step towards the knockout stages of the Asian Champions League Elite after upsetting Malaysian powers Johor Darul Ta'zim 1-0.
Meeting Takeshi Kanamori's third-minute corner and burying a header, Max Caputo's sixth goal in nine games placed City in an early ascendancy at AAMI Park on Tuesday evening, one maintained by some incredible keeping from Beach.
Though missing three players suspended by FIFA for 12 months amid a naturalisation scandal rocking Malaysian football, JDT had 23 shots and forced Beach into frequent saves - none more miraculous than a one-handed, one-on-one effort to deny Brazilian Bergson on the hour.
But even the 22-year-old Beach could only watch on when JDT somehow couldn't find an equaliser in the 80th minute, after Raul Parra cut the ball back for Jairo, only for the Brazilian to somehow lift his shot at an open goal from one yard onto the crossbar.
As tensions rose, 18-year-old Medin Memeti put the result beyond doubt with a 92nd-minute rocket, ensuring City became the first Australians since Sydney FC in 2016 to win three straight in Asia's biggest competition.
Making nine stops, Beach's star turn was the latest in a series of breakout moments in 2025-26.
He was named best afield on international debut in Australia's 1-0 loss to Venezuela last week after a string of standout performances across both the A-League Men and ACLE.
"The last couple of months has been great - getting man of the match performances - but it's the three points that matter," Beach said.
"I put it down to all the work before these matches, during the week of training that no one sees.
"These moments that you see in games are a combination of so many repetitions and actions in training that I do every single day."
City moved to nine points in the Eastern standings with the win – a figure that would have allowed them to progress in last year's tournament – with three games of the group stages remaining.
Aurelio Vidmar's side will face three Korean outfits in their remaining fixtures, travelling to FC Seoul and Ulsan before hosting Gangwon, seeking to become the first Australian side since Melbourne Victory in 2020 to reach the knockouts.
"We set our target of seven points at the beginning of the pre-season," Vidmar said.
"We have nine now, so that's fantastic, but that doesn't mean we stop."
