Melbourne Victory suffered a first defeat in four matches, losing by a single goal to Northcote City FC in Round 24 of the 2026 VPL Men 1 season.
A controversial second-half penalty was all that split the sides in Monday night’s top-six clash at the Home of the Matildas.
Giorgio Serdenes was able to convert from 12 yards despite the contact, which caused a Northcote player to go down in stages, appearing to take place outside of the box.
Victory, as they had with regularity, pushed forward for a leveller, with it taking a goalline clearance for the visitors to survive a goalmouth scramble in the sixth minute of injury time.
Match details are available by clicking here.
Speaking to MelbourneVictory.com.au, Senior Academy Head Coach, Besart Berisha, was proud of his team’s efforts and believes they will learn from the loss.
“It was a very important game for us, and we knew a win would have taken us into second place. Unfortunately, we fell short, but I thought we played really well and created enough chances to score four goals.
“We have to learn from this. In games where something is on the line, we need to be more clinical and mature. Hopefully, another opportunity comes, and when it does, we’ll be ready.”
