Arthur Diles applauded his Melbourne Victory players for improvising in the pressure cooker conclusion to Saturday night’s Christmas Derby.
Substitute Matthew Grimaldi downed Melbourne City in the 91st minute at AAMI Park, lashing the ball in from 25-yards out as the Men’s First Team recorded back-to-back wins for the first time in the 2025/26 Isuzu UTE A-League season.
The boyhood Victory fan linked up with Juan Mata and Denis Genreau for the winner, with the trio ripping up the set-piece script to write themselves into Melbourne Derby folklore thanks to a neat exchange that ignored the crossing option and gave Grimaldi the opening he took so sweetly.
Speaking during his post-match press conference, Diles highlighted how those on the field are encouraged to improvise when opportunities to create magical moments arise.
“Juan can smell it, he can feel it, and then Matty does his business, which was a fantastic strike.
“They’ve always got the freedom and the luxury to play what they see. Obviously, you have your set plays, but you know, if something’s not going to script, and you can see something and you feel it, we always encourage them to play what they feel. He’s done that, and there’s a reward at the end of it.”
The 51st Melbourne Derby was a typically frantic tussle, and it looked like it would be both goalkeepers taking the post-match plaudits.
City’s Patrick Beach did very well to keep out a chipped Nikos Vergos effort that appeared to have him beaten in the second half, but it was Jack Duncan who produced the night’s defining stop.
11 minutes from time, Medin Memeti met a corner at speed, and his header seemed certain to find the net until Victory’s ‘keeper produced a blinding save.
Diles gave his verdict on Duncan’s display and offered an overall assessment of a success that shoots his team up the ladder.
“Jack was excellent. He’s made two or three probably game-changing saves that keep us in the game with a clean sheet.
“We weren’t outstanding in terms of the way we want to play, but we definitely worked really hard, and we’re resilient. We had a top mentality and to keep a clean sheet and then get one in the end, that shows a super mentality, and I’m really proud of that.”
Watch Diles’ full press conference below.
