Melbourne City have tightened their hold on a top-four A-League Men finish after a late Alessandro Lopane goal secured a 3-2 win over Sydney FC. With the score level after a four-goal shootout in the first half, Lopane marked his return from injury with the 61st-minute matchwinner at Allianz Stadium on Saturday. It was the midfielder's first appearance of the season after undergoing surgery for a patella injury in October. A second-half challenge from the Sky Blues was expected after a season of late comeback wins, but a desperate City outfit held on. City can finish the round as high as third on 37 points after extending their unbeaten streak to six matches against Sydney, five points adrift of league leaders Auckland FC. Ufuk Talay's finals hopefuls, seventh in the league, have not defeated City since December 2022. The Sky Blues are three points off sixth-placed Adelaide United, next round's opponents, with five games remaining of the home-and-away season. A potentially serious injury to influential midfielder Leo Sena only adds to the host's woes. Sena was stretchered off the field after his ankle was caught under him when he was tackled by City star Max Caputo in the seventh minute. Sky Blues defender Joel King also appeared to pick up his own ankle complaint in the second half and was replaced by Zac De Jesus at 55 minutes. It was teenage sensations Caputo and Medin Memeti calling the shots for the visitors in the first half. Memeti opened the scoring in the fifth minute, before Caputo cancelled out Jordan Courtney-Perkins' 28th-minute goal to restore City's lead in the 35th minute. Sydney defender Courtney-Perkins had controversially escaped giving away a penalty for fouling Memeti, having tugged his opponent's shirt in the 19th minute. Courtney-Perkins then popped up again with a classy pass from the left wing to help Douglas Costa equalise in the 39th minute.