It was hard to wipe the smile off Archie Thompson’s face after Melbourne Victory’s 3-0 win over Central Coast at Telstra Dome on Friday night.
It was hard to wipe the smile off Archie Thompson’s face after Melbourne Victory’s 3-0 win over Central Coast at Telstra Dome on Friday night.
Not only did Thompson break his four-game goalless drought with a superb individual strike, but he also set-up Danny Allsopp for Victory’s opener in sensational fashion.
With a dour Mariners outfit frustrating Victory for the first 67 minutes of the match, Thompson turned the match on its head with a sublime piece of skill that put his side on top.
Thompson used his trademark pace to glide past Mariners defender Pedj Bojic and then delivered an inch perfect cross that merely required Allsopp to tap in at the back post.
After Carlos Hernandez doubled Victory’s advantage just moments later, Allsopp then turned provider for Thompson by heading the ball into the path of his fellow striker to make it 3-0 after 75 minutes.
It was Thompson’s seventh goal of the campaign – but his first since against Sydney last month – with his new lime boots doing the trick.
“I tried a few colours and the lime ones seemed to work tonight,” a thrilled Thompson said after the game.
“I probably would have gone home and topped myself if I hadn’t of scored as I felt like it had been coming. I have been setting up a few goals which is also important for a striker.”
“But I was just happy that Danny gave me a little flick on and I was happy to score it.”
While Thompson has been struggling for goals of late, the same can’t be said for Allsopp, who has now found the back of the net 11 times this campaign.
Allsopp now sits one goal behind Shane Smeltz in the race for the Golden Boot and Thompson said his team-mate will need to share the award with him if he does happen to snare it at the end of the season.
“We can take turns at having it (the Golden Boot award) at our houses I think,” Thompson joked.
“Every two weeks or something like that.”
While individual awards are something that Allsopp and Thompson love to collect, it is not at the forefront of their mind as the Hyundai A-League season draws to a close.
Friday night’s win allowed Victory to move back to the top of the ladder, but it needs to defeat Wellington next round to ensure a top-two finish at the end of the season.
“We knew we had to win our last two games and we started well tonight,” Thompson said.
“To win like we did, 3-0, against a quality side like Central Coast is a good sign for us going into next weeks game. It puts pressure on Adelaide, but we are just focusing on what we can do.”
