Melbourne Victory Head Coach Tony Popovic was delighted to record a 1-0 win over Adelaide United in the Isuzu UTE A-League.
Marco Rojas’ seventh-minute goal proved to be enough for Victory at Coopers Stadium on Saturday as it climbed into third on the table.
Speaking at his post-match news conference, Popovic discussed the win, his side’s chances and Ivan Kelava’s injury concern
on winning in Adelaide again…
“It’s hard enough to get one win here. We’ve had three, two big ones in the league and obviously the cup win, so today was another big result and nothing changes here in Adelaide. You’ve got to earn it, they make you earn it and they don’t stop coming and with the support and the fans, it’s always tough the last 15-20 minutes if you haven’t put them away with the chances you’ve had. We’re delighted with the three points, I’m very happy we got a clean sheet, we haven’t had that in quite a while and we toughed it out which was pleasing.”
on chances…
“We work on it. I think it’s been evident, certainly since we’ve come back from Japan, the three games we’ve played, we’re creating opportunities, we’re getting into the final third comfortably, it’s either the last pass or the finish, which we have to acknowledge, scoring is the hardest thing to do in football, otherwise the scorelines would be very different. All we can ask is that if we keep creating the opportunities, I thought the goal we scored was a wonderful goal, build-up and ball in behind and then Marco scored. The play is there, I’m sure the players will one day find themselves two or three up from the chances they create.”
on Francesco Margiotta…
“He’s a very good footballer and I think today was probably one of the best games he’s played in quite a while. He just adds something to our football and I thought he did very well the first 20 minutes of the first half, he worked very hard, he did great for the goal that was offside so his movements are really good and I think he’ll gain a lot of confidence from tonight so good performance.”
on Kelava…
“He’s got a few knocks. He’s got something with his calf, we’re hoping it’s not a strain, but we’ll see in the next few days.
