Arthur Diles reflected on Melbourne Victory’s defeat to Sydney FC in Round 5 of the Isuzu UTE A-League, identifying the positives and fatal errors on the night.
Heading on the road to take on the Sky Blues in the Big Blue at Leichhardt Oval, Diles was full of praise about his side’s first-half efforts.
“It was a fantastic first half. You limit them to no shots on target, a good team at home like that. It’s a positive first half without a reward or outcome, but it doesn’t mean that we switch off for that 15-minute window and allow them to take control of the match.
“We’ve got to keep playing the football that we played in that first half, which allows us to be in a position to win games and the more you do that, the more chance you give yourself of scoring and turning things round.”
It was a fatal period from the 58th to the 76th minute that saw Sydney net all three of their goals on the night, with two outside-the-box strikes from Joe Lolley and a headed goal from Alex Grant proving the difference.
“There’s a 15-minute window in the second half that’s not good enough; ultimately, that’s cost us the match.
“We’ve got to keep going. It’s very disappointing, the result, absolutely devastating, it’s not good enough in a derby, it’s not good for us, and we have to improve, that’s for sure.
“Like I said, there’s lots of positives from that first half, but that 15-minute window is something we have to address, and we will review the match as a whole.”
Watch Diles’ full press conference below.
