Melbourne Victory was downed by Western United 4-3 in the A-League on Saturday.
Summary
Victory fought back from 3-1 down at Marvel Stadium, where Callum McManaman’s opener was cancelled out as Besart Berisha scored a brace after Victor Sanchez’s equaliser.
Jacob Butterfield’s excellent strike reduced the deficit before Tomislav Uskok’s red card, and Rudy Gestede equalised prior to Sanchez’s 95th-minute winner.
Victory goalkeeper Max Crocombe was forced into a save in the opening minute, pushing away a toe poke from Berisha.
After Robbie Kruse was denied by a block following an Aaron Anderson pass, Victory opened the scoring in the 21st minute.
A fine team move finished with Storm Roux picking out McManaman, who volleyed in his second goal of the season.
Western hit the crossbar through Iker Guarrotxena before Crocombe made a wonderful save to deny Berisha from close range.
Victory also hit the crossbar as Gestede, who scored a brace against the Wellington Phoenix on Wednesday, headed a Jake Brimmer corner against the woodwork in the 32nd minute.
But Western levelled three minutes before the break as Sanchez tucked away a finish from just inside the area.
Crocombe was called into action shortly after the interval, diving to his right to tip away a long-range effort from Dylan Pierias.
After Butterfield forced a save from Kurto, Berisha headed in a Diamanti cross to give Western a 2-1 lead.
That pair combined again for Western before the hour-mark as Berisha’s header made it 3-1.
But Victory pulled a goal back through Butterfield, the midfielder scoring his first for the club with a tremendous long-range strike in the 62nd minute.
Western was then reduced to 10 men, Uskok shown his second yellow card for a foul on Kruse.
Gestede was denied by a great Kurto save before bringing Victory level with a header from Dalibor Markovic’s cross.
As Victory pushed for a winner, Western found it in the 95th minute as Sanchez scored.
Player in focus
Key moment
Result
Hyundai A-League 2020/21
Melbourne Victory 3 (Callum McManaman 21′, Jacob Butterfield 62′, Rudy Gestede 82′)
Western United 4 (Victor Sanchez 42’/90+5′, Besart Berisha 53’/58′)
Melbourne Victory: Crocombe (gk); Roux, Broxham (c) (Bello 68′), Anderson, Markovic; McManaman (Kamsoba 89′), Butterfield, Brimmer, Kirdar (Lawrie-Lattanzio 60′); Kruse, Gestede.
Western United: Kurto (gk); Pierias (Wales 73′), Imai, Uskok, Calver, Pain (Milanovic 84′); Sanchez, Lustica (Skotadis 83′), Diamanti (c), Berisha, Guarrotxena (Vujica 68′).
Yellow cards: Sanchez 12′, Kruse 27′, Imai 31′, Roux 45′, Uskok 50’/64′, Brimmer 70′, Vujica 72′, Milanovic 85′, Skotadis 90+4′
Red cards: Uskok 64′
Attendance: TBA
Venue: Marvel Stadium
Next up
Victory is back at Marvel Stadium next week when it hosts City in a Derby clash on Saturday, March 6.
