Melbourne Victory Men’s completed their two-game friendly series against Perth Glory with an impressive 3-0 win in Bunbury.
Travelling further south to face Perth Glory in their second and final pre-season matchup, Victory were keen to go two from two in WA.
Arthur Diles opted to make five changes to the XI that prevailed in Mandurah, promoting Jason Davidson, Santos, Jing Reec, Kayne Razmovski and Xavier Stella from the bench into the starting lineup.
Kicking off action at Hay Park, Victory had an early chance through new signing Matthew Grimaldi, but a save from Glory’s goalkeeper denied the 21-year-old from opening the scoring in the second minute.
Denis Genreau would later impress after working his way through traffic and delivering a ball into the box, but unfortunately no teammate was available to finish the move off.
However, Victory would capitalise on their early brilliance in the 19th minute, taking an early lead.
Receiving a headed ball by Jordi Valadon, Matthew Grimaldi flicked the ball past a Glory defender and played the ball across the box to striker Jing Reec, who managed to slide in for the finish.
After taking the lead, the hosts began to grow into the game and create chances, forcing goalkeeper Jack Duncan and the Victory backline into a number of interventions.
Reec would almost turn assister late in the half after teeing up Santos, but the electric Brazilian winger could not find the back of the net.
Victory would hold onto the 1-0 lead heading into the break, introducing Louis D’Arrigo off the bench following the restart.
Producing magic to create the chance for the first goal, this time Grimaldi would make his way onto the scoresheet with an excellent finish straight into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.
It was a great moment for the Australian U23 international, capping off an impressive showing after joining the Club earlier in the month.
Grimaldi would soon after be brought off with an array of teammates, with Keegan Jelacic, Lachlan Jackson, Nikos Vergos, Jack Warshawsky, Adama Traoré, Oliver Dragicevic and Daniel Lazarevski all brought on from minutes 60 to 74 respectively.
Young goalkeeper Jack Warshawsky would quickly be called into action, palming away a rocketed effort into the bottom corner in the 78th minute and parrying away Nathanael Blair’s effort in the 84th minute.
Young duo Malik Olukhale and George Mihailidis would both be brought on in the final stretch of the game, helping inspire Victory score a third and final goal late on.
In the final moments, 17-year-old midfielder Oliver Dragicevic would tuck away his first goal in Victory colours and close out the game perfectly for the Vuck.
Celebrating a successful pre-season trip to WA that sees Victory further extend their winning streak over the Glory, Arthur Diles’ men will continue their preparations for the upcoming 2025/26 Isuzu UTE A-League season that kicks off on October 18 against Auckland FC at AAMI Park.
In the meantime, Victory awaits a pre-season match in Mildura against Original Rivals Adelaide United on Saturday, October 4.
Match Details
Perth Glory 0
Melbourne Victory 3 (Reec 19′, Grimaldi 54′, Dragicevic 90′)
Melbourne Victory Starting XI: 25. Jack DUNCAN (GK), 2. Jason DAVIDSON, 8. Jordi VALADON, 10. Denis GENREAU, 11. SANTOS, 14. Matthew GRIMALDI, 19. Jing REEC, 21. Roderick MIRANDA (C), 22. Joshua RAWLINS, 28. Kayne RAZMOVSKI, 42. Xavier STELLA
Substitutes: 40. Oskar VON SCHRENK (GK), 50. Jack WARSHAWSKY (GK) (66′), 3. Adama TRAORÉ (74′), 4. Lachlan JACKSON (60′), 9, Nikos VERGOS (66′), 23. Keegan JELACIC (60′), 27. Louis D’ARRIGO (46′), 29. Oliver DRAGICEVIC (74′), 31. Daniel LAZAREVSKI (74′), 41. Malik OLUKHALE (80′), 44. George MIHAILIDIS (80′)
