Bruno Fornaroli was back to his best as Victory triumphed in the final Original Rivalry of the season.
Adelaide’s Van Der Saag had an early chance after hitting the side netting within the first five minutes.
Almost immediately after, Zinedine Machach was so close to a breakthrough when he attempted to chip the Adelaide keeper after being played into the box but his shot was deflected above the crossbar.
The Machach and Brimmer connection early was looking dangerous with both sending dangerous crosses into the box.
Salim Khelifi looked to get in on the action early. A beautifully weighted pass from Machach played the winger into open space on the edge of the box with Khelifi’s shot forcing Red’s keeper James Delianov into a diving save.
Tony Popovic’s side continued to dominate possession early. A stunning pass from Jake Brimmer in the 12th minute sent Nishan Velupillay streaming into the box.
The winger attempted to curl his shot into the bottom corner but Delianov was there once again.
Nish continued to look dangerous with our best chance of the half so far coming in the 24th minute. The Olyroo did brilliantly to duke the Adelaide defender as a pass from Connor Chapman came his way. The winger found himself one-on-one with Delianov but his shot was again stopped from finding the back of the net.
We almost found the back of the net again from the immediate corner but Da Silva’s header sailed wide.
The breakthrough finally came in the 33rd minute. Velupillay once again attempted to curl his shot into the bottom corner and once again Delianov was there to stop it. But this time, the ball fell to Bruno Fornaroli who made no mistake to give Victory the lead.
Adelaide looked to start the second half on the front foot by bringing on Nestory Irankunda and it didn’t take long for the young Socceroo to make an impact.
Nestory’s powerful shot from outside the box in the 51st minute found the back of the net to bring things back level.
But it didn’t take long for Victory to restore their lead.
Referee Alireza Faghani spotted a handball from Adelaide’s Ansell inside the penalty area after a shot from Fornaroli and the subsequent penalty awarded to Victory was tucked away with emphasis from the Socceroos striker who, after taking his goals tally on the night to two, reclaimed the lead at the top of the Golden Boot standings with his 15th of the season.
After reclaiming the lead, Victory managed to put the clamps on Adelaide’s early momentum and manage the game toward the final five minutes of regular time when action exploded down either end to set up a dramatic finish.
Fornaroli was centimetres from a hat-trick when his shot dropped off the crossbar and toward the goal line but Adelaide survived the scare and launched a rapid counter-attack, resulting in a free-kick which Zach Clough whipped into Giuseppe Bovalina’s path.
Bovalina headed on target and Izzo produced a quick-thinking save to deny the hosts a leveller.
The final whistle blew and Victory claimed the Pride Cup once again.
Next Match
Western United v Melbourne Victory
Date: Thu 14 Mar
Time: 7:00pm
Location: AAMI Park
