Melbourne Victory have started the pre-season on a high with a commanding 2-6 win against Green Gully.
Melbourne Victory Men’s side kicked off their 2024/25 season against Green Gully in a pre-season friendly ahead of next week’s Australia Cup Round of 32 match.
Some familiar faces got the starting nod in the first half, with Brendan Hamill and Jack Duncan making their season debuts for the Club.
Here it is, the first team of 2024/25 📋
— Melbourne Victory (@gomvfc) July 31, 2024
⏳ Kick-off at 7:30pm (AEST)
🖥️ Watch tonight's stream here: https://t.co/VDdNzPIhb8 pic.twitter.com/JMlA8gzoKX
A raft of Victory Academy players also featured on the bench.
It didn’t take long for Victory to take the lead, with none other than Bruno Fornaroli finding the back of the net in the fifth minute.
Repeat entries from the left side of the box wore down Green Gully’s defence, with the third cross back into the box finding Fornaroli, who controlled the ball at his feet and finished expertly.
Our boys in blue thought they had doubled their lead just 10 minutes later when off of a Nishan Velupillay counter-attack, but the offside flag was ultimately raised.
The hosts then found the back of the net from a corner in the 23rd minute, levelling the scores.
On the edge of half-time, Bruno came so close to re-taking the lead for Victory, but the striker’s shot deflected off the woodwork and away.
Victory kept the pressure high to end the first half and were rewarded for their efforts with Bruno Fornaroli finding the back of the net again to give our boys in blue the lead once again.
With the pressure still high, Nishan Velupillay was able to capitalise on a breakaway and double Victory’s lead.
A new XI took the field for the second half, with a large mix of youth featuring.
40. Siciliano 16. Inserra 3. Traore 22. Rawlins 31. Kassaby 24. Menelaou 32. Radimisis 33. Muhindo 34. Lee 27. Piscopo 19. Reec
Green Gully started on the front and halving their deficit with a long-range strike in the 53rd minute.
However, it only took seven minutes for Victory to extend their lead once again when a loss cross from the right side of the box found a lunging Jing Reec. The young managed to get boot-to-ball and rattle the net, scoring his first in Victory colours.
Looking to change things up, Head Coach Patrick Kisnorbo made two more substitutions for the final 15 minutes of the match, with Victory Academy players Kayne Razmovski and Jack Mihailidis replacing Victor Muhindo and John Radimisis.
Jing Reec then found the back of the net again after a pin-point cross from Reno Piscopo found the striker, who headed home with perfection.
And with almost the last kick of the match, Jack Mihailidis blocked a clearance from the Gully defender only for the ball to ricochet and bounce across the line.
A commanding 2-6 win for Melbourne Victory to kick-off pre-season ahead of next week’s important Australia Cup Round of 32 match against the Lambton Jaffas.
