And Melbourne City saw off the spirited challenge of the team from Gosford on Sunday evening and were good value for their single-goal win.

So, City should travel to Allianz Stadium on Friday night with a spring in their step and plenty of confidence in their ability to see off the Sky Blues.

Well, that might be the equation, but results rarely follow such a logical pattern in soccer.

That's not to say that Warren Joyce's improving City side should go to Sydney with an overwhelming inferiority complex.

Sure, Sydney beat City on their own patch in the A-League earlier this season, and also saw them off in a pre-season FFA Cup tie, so they are clearly in the ascendancy in recent times.

But this is an improved City, a team getting more comfortable in the skin new coach Joyce is weaving for them, a team looking to play more in the style of the champions, of whom Joyce is an unabashed admirer.

Joyce has made a template of Sydney's defensive accountability and high workrate, refashioning what had hitherto been an attacking, if defensively flaky outfit. It is starting to bear fruit.

After a run of four winless games (following four in succession to start the season) City have now won back-to-back fixtures and are gaining belief.

The messy Tim Cahill saga is now behind them, the Socceroos legend having departed in a wave of publicity last week for as yet unknown pastures.

"You want those challenges. I thought [Sydney] were really impressive against Western Sydney. It's a challenge we need to prepare for this week. We'll go head to head and have a right go at them next week," the coach said of the assignment confronting his team

Impressive teenager Nathaniel Atkinson made a strong debut in Sunday's win over the Mariners, while Braedyn Crowley came off the bench and another youngster, Daniel Arzani, looked on from the pine.

Several other members of City's impressive youth set-up are in line for recognition sooner rather than later, although Joyce might put discretion ahead of valour when selecting his line-up to face Sydney, which would be understandable.

He was rightly enough pleased with the pace and tempo of City's win on Sunday, particularly their lively first-half performance, which preceded Ross McCormack's 59th-minute winner.

"I felt the first half was as good as we'd played and we created three great chances and several opportunities - if it were 3-0 at half-time it's a completely different game," he said reflecting on the match.

He was particularly pleased with the A-League debut of Atkinson, an 18-year-old from Tasmania.

"I thought he did well. I thought he took his opportunity well. He's one that caught my eye as soon as I came to the club. He's been away with the Young Socceroos and missed a lot of training. In pre-season, he worked his socks off, showed a good attitude and showed that he can handle the football as well.

"It's only one game. It's a big ask but he's done really well. It doesn't surprise me but he's made the most of his opportunity. Sometimes you don't know how he's going to react to a crowd and handle the pressure of this football club to win games. I thought he took it in his stride.

"They've got to earn the right to play. We want the kids to come through and we want to see all the work that the academy does. The kids have to grasp the opportunity and make sure they're ready for it in every way: mentally, physically and tactically."