Germain showed his class with a well-taken 62nd-minute strike in an otherwise scrappy and flat Saturday evening's entertainment at Campbelltown Sports Stadium.
In front of a crowd of 3843, Germain raced 50m downfield to latch on to a through-ball from in-form winger Jed Drew to give Macarthur just their second home win of the season.
The Bulls leapfrogged City into third spot with the victory and are now four points behind table-topping Auckland, who they face next week.
Macarthur's Kealey Adamson (left) and Melbourne City's Mathew Leckie battle for the ball. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP PHOTOS)
"That's the character he has, he's a great leader and we are very lucky to have him in our team," Â Macarthur boss Mile Sterjovski said of Germain.Â
"He's a quality player.
"Our performance in the first half, I wasn't happy with it, but we came back into the game and it was much better, more positive play."Â
The defeat was City's second on the spin and they were forced into an early reshuffle when defender Kai Trewin pulled up with a hip injury early in the opening 45 minutes, which were played at a sluggish pace.Â
"We have to get better at getting the ball into the final third," said City boss Aurelio Vidmar.Â
"When we do, we're not doing much with it and we're not clinical enough.
"Tonight, it was more that we lost it rather than we won it."Â
City had all the possession but it took them more than half an hour to register their first shot on target via a Kavian Rahmani effort that was parried away by Filip Kurto.Â
Callum Talbot also had a long-range effort swatted away by Macarthur's Polish No.1 to see out a scoreless first half.
Macarthur had been lifeless for much of the opening half, but they nearly snatched a lead through Germain two minutes into the second stanza.
A record-breaking goal for Valère Germain! 🔥— Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) The @mfcbulls talisman becomes the club's all-time leading goalscorer and it's set-up expertly by Jed Drew.What a moment 🙌 📺 Watch #MACvMCY live NOW on Paramount+, 10 Play & 10 Bold. pic.twitter.com/aGmmLXB61lJanuary 25, 2025
The Frenchman was presented a gilt-edged chance on City's line, which goalkeeper Patrick Beach did spectacularly well to palm away from his goal-line.
But Germain made no mistake with his next opportunity as the Bulls countered downfield through Drew.Â
The livewire winger halted play just inside the City box before sliding Germain through one-on-one with Beach with an inch-perfect ball.Â
Germain calmly finished past the young goalkeeper to put the Bulls ahead, and Vidmar immediately turned to his bench to throw Mathew Leckie into the fray.
The half-hour involvement was the Socceroo's longest game time since June after struggling with several injuries.
Leckie's presence and that of fellow substitute Marco Tilio, playing his first game since November, couldn't help City break down a stoic Macarthur defence, who hung on for the win.Â
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