Melbourne Victory hosted the Western Sydney Wanderers in a Round 2 clash of Round 1 winners, with the Wanderers coming up trumps in a gritty, hard fought 1-0 win in Melbourne off the back of a stunning Tomislav Mrcela goal late in the first half.
The visitors, off the back of a scratch 1-0 win against Perth Glory named an unchanged starting lineup, the Victory dropping Stefan Nigro to the bench in favour of George Timotheou. The match was a tale of coming up against a former employer, with Lawrence Thomas and Adama Traore winning success at Victory before shifting to Sydney while Victory coach is Wanderers Premiership & Champions League winner Tony Popovic.
In the 10th minute there was an extraordinary sequence that should have ended with a Victory goal. Jake Brimmer found Nick D'Agostino who crossed into the centre, there was a collision involving Thomas and a Victory defender. The ball dribbled through to the back post for Nani who looked to have an open net, but Cleur coming back in cover defence on the line and the tight angle did enough to have the shot bounce back off the woodwork and into the grateful hands of Thomas.
There followed a long delay when Milos Ninkovic was flattened by a punch to the head from Paul Izzo as the keeper was knocking a lofted through ball clear, drawing blood from the attacking midfielder. Ninkovic responded with an audacious volley from long range that had Izzo worried but sailed over the bar.
Leigh Broxham went into the notebook after a horrible lunge tackle on Kusini Yengi that was only inches away from crashing into the wingers ankle. Nani beat Cleur down the left flank and won a corner after his cut-back was knocked out by Amalfitano, the corner was awful and cleared away by the first mark. Krpic had a good chance when Yengi played him in on goal, unfortunately he was dragged wide by the pass and his shot went straight at Izzo.
10 minutes before the break Victory had a big let off. After some quality one touch passing down the right side with Ninkovic, Amalfitano and Cleur combining to release a cut-back to the edge of the box, Yengi was unmarked and in perfect position to smash it home with a side volley but he connected with thin air and the chance went begging.
5 minutes before the break the Wanderers finally had their reward for a great first half. From the highly unlikely source of Tomislav Mrcela. The big central defender broke clear from the Wanderers penalty area after taking on two Victory attackers to win it, shrugged off a cover defender and strode forward with purpose. After passing halfway he found Borrello, who drew his defenders and sent it back to Mrcela, his shot came from the edge of the box was blocked by a defender but it fortuitously came straight back and Mrcela was quick enough on the reaction to redirect it at a goal that was left open as Izzo had gone down to make the save. It was the last major action of the first half and the Red & Black lead was well deserved.
Ninkovic opened the first half by getting yellow card for pulling down D'Agostino after he'd pinched the ball off the Serbian maestro, Brimmer stepped up for a direct shot on goal but his shot went well over the crossbar.
In the 66th minute Tony Popovic went to his bench for a triple sub, bringing on Noah Smith, former Wanderer Chris Ikonomidis and Stefan Nigro. Smith immediately had an impact as his cross gave Brimmer a chance at a diving header that sliced wide of the post. With only 15 minutes to play the Wanderers defence was so stoic they had not given up a single shot on target in the match. Brimmer's struggles eventually saw him replaced by Nishan Velupilla and shortly after Ninkovic was replaced by Ramy Najjarine & while the change was being made Marko Rudan was booked on the sideline for apparent dissent.
Victory marquee Nani made his way off the pitch as Popovic used up his final sub to bring on Lleyton Brooks as Cleur. With 5 to go tensions rose when Nieuwenhof, who had a sterling game, lost possession to D'Agostino, and sensing the immediate danger he took down the attacker with a horsecollar tackle to ensure the 4 on 3 attack couldn't come to fruition.
A brief melee ensued that saw Mrcela add a yellow card to his goal as well as Victory keeper Izzo and the resulting free kick from Brillante was another off-target shot and one that Thomas had covered anyway. Marcelo joined his central defensive partner in the book in the 88th minute. Victory finally had their first shot on target in the 91st minute, a weak effort from a long way out that Thomas easily snaffled.
Jarrod Carluccio had entered the fray and ticked up the 5th yellow card for the Wanderers with his own professional foul in the 92nd. Ikonomidis sparked a second melee seconds later with a horrible late bash into Carluccio, getting himself a yellow card while Borrello picked one up for apparently getting involved in the scuffle. Nigro picked up the 10th yellow card of the game when he pulled down Yengi as he was trying to take it to the corner to run out the clock.
The game ended in the hands of Lawrence Thomas strongly claiming Melbourne's last chance cross into the box. It was a rock solid defensive performance filled with fighting spirit, hardly a smash and grab that the 0-1 score line suggests. Nieuwenhof was the stand out man of the match, dominating the midfield with steel and stamina that locked down the Victory attack and forced them out wide. It wouldn't be out of place to suggest that was the finest away performance in many years, and it could be the marker that sets up the run in to the World Cup break.
The Wanderers win puts them in equal first with Melbourne City on 6 points, ending Victory's run of 15 regular season games unbeaten and leaving them in equal 3rd along with the Newcastle Jets after their last second win against Perth tonight. Western Sydney's next match is against the Brisbane Roar in Parramatta on Saturday the 22nd with kick off at 5pm.
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