Arthur Diles was pleased to see his Melbourne Victory team make the most of their strong start versus Macarthur FC.
The hosts saw a two-goal lead, thanks to a Damien Da Silva own goal and Denis Genreau strike, halved going into the interval.
But unlike in recent matches, when leads against Adelaide United and Sydney FC were wiped out, Victory retaliated by putting on a commanding second-half performance, with Sebastian Esposito and Charles Nduka on target.
Speaking during his post-match press conference, Diles was clearly impressed with how his players were able to spot the warning signs and find a way to secure an important three points, which lifts them to fourth on the ladder.
“It was an excellent start, and it was really important we did that at home. It was a six-point game for us. There’s so much at stake in this match, and we had to make our intentions very clear, very early, and I thought we did that.
“The start was excellent. Although they scored a goal, the important thing was that we finished the half strong.
“We addressed what we had to address at half-time, made sure we learned from last week’s performance, which was not to switch off at two-nil and make sure we score the next goal.”
Completing the Round 21 schedule means a quicker turnaround to the hosting of Central Coast Mariners on Saturday at AAMI Park.
And Diles gave an advanced assessment of the upcoming fixture, against a Mariners outfit who are unbeaten in eight matches.
“It’s a really difficult opponent next week who’s got a lot of momentum at the moment. They’ve had quite a few games unbeaten, so you know it’s going to be a big obstacle for us next week, but we’ll make sure we do everything we have to do as a team.
“We make sure we worry about our football and our process, to make sure when we turn up next Saturday night we’re ready to rock and roll.”
Watch Diles’ full press conference below.
