Melbourne Victory Men prepare to face Auckland FC in the second leg of their Isuzu Ute A-League Semi-Finals tie at Go Media Stadium on Saturday, May 24.
Defeated by the Premiers in a tough clash playing in the bucketing rain at AAMI Park, Victory will seek to overturn the one-goal deficit in a must-win game against Auckland FC in New Zealand.
Melbourne Victory:
Kicking off a semifinal tie with Auckland FC following an emphatic triumph over the Western Sydney Wanderers in the elimination final, Victory had a big task on their hands at AAMI Park.
While Victory created promising chances here and there and controlled both possession and territory in their opponent’s half, finding a way through Auckland’s resolute defensive structure proved challenging.
Midfielder Ryan Teague showed his class in midfielder, excelling in possesion and being recognised as the Turkish Airlines Player of the Match.
However, the Vuck ultimately has a big task on their hands in the second leg of the tie.
Without centre-back Brendan Hamill, after suffering a devastating ACL rupture, head coach Arthur Diles noted the need to build upon our performance following the home leg.
“We’ve got a lot of confidence. I know we didn’t score tonight, but at times we played some really good football in difficult conditions. We took the game to them, we were on the front foot and we’ve got to be better next week.
“It’s half-time now (in the tie) and now we’ve got to fix the second half.”
Taking on Auckland FC this Saturday in New Zealand, Melbourne Victory have the opportunity to bypass the Premiers and progress through to the A-League Men’s Grand Final for a second consecutive season.
Auckland FC:
Taking on Victory at AAMI Park just a few weeks after their 2-0 win, Auckland FC managed to repeat their fortunes last Saturday night.
Finding the opening goal past the hour mark, Auckland FC sat deep and soaked up attack after attack in their defensive half.
Recording the most clean sheets in the league this season, the Premiers are yet to concede a goal against Victory in their three meetings so far.
While the Black Knights have looked impenetrable at times this season, there have been moments of concern defensively in their inaugural campaign.
Falling to Western United 4-0 at home, shipping four goals to Adelaide United and suffering a 4-2 loss in their final regular season fixture in Tarneit to Western again, clinical attacking will be vital for Victory in their attempts to turn around the tie on Saturday.
