Match details
Adelaide United v Melbourne Victory
Coopers Stadium, Adelaide
Wednesday, January 5, 2022
Kick-off: 7.45pm AEDT
Watch on 10play.com.au
Preview
Melbourne Victory’s FFA Cup run continues with a quarter-final clash away to Adelaide United on Wednesday.
Victory booked a spot in the last eight with a 2-1 extra-time win over the Gold Coast Knights on Thursday.
It was again a youthful Victory side which featured at the Croatian Sports Centre, with William Wilson scoring a wonderful winning goal.
With Victory’s scheduled Isuzu UTE A-League clash against Brisbane Roar – which was due to be played on Sunday – postponed, Leigh Broxham and Robbie Kruse started, while Francesco Margiotta came off the bench.
Victory will face Adelaide twice in the space of four days, hosting the Reds in a league game on Saturday.
The Club’s youth have led the cup run, including wins over Perth Glory, Adelaide City and the Gold Coast Knights.
Birkan Kirdar, 19, Jay Barnett, 20, and Lleyton Brooks, 20, have started all three of those games.
Nishan Velupillay, 20, set up Luis Lawrie-Lattanzio, 19, for the equaliser against Gold Coast, before Zaydan Bello, 19, played a pass to Wilson, who curled in the winner with the outside of his foot from outside the area.
Victory currently has six games scheduled for January, beginning with the back-to-back clashes with Adelaide.
Only one team – the Central Coast Mariners – has booked its spot in the Semi Finals.
Player in focus
Kruse put in a mammoth shift against Gold Coast, featuring for 120 minutes.
The forward was a constant threat against the Knights and also had chances to get on the scoresheet.
What they said
“Obviously it’s going to be a bit different now because they’re coming off a win and they played some good football the other night. We’ve just got to stick to what we do best, play our football on and off the ball and we trust that our quality and our discipline will get us through the match and get a good result.” – Victory attacker Velupillay.
Last time
Isuzu UTE A-League 2021/22 Round 4
Adelaide United 1-2 Melbourne Victory
Saturday, December 11, 2021
Coopers Stadium, Adelaide
After a composed finish from Margiotta put Victory ahead, a Matt Spiranovic own goal brought Adelaide level.
But Velupillay got on the end of a Kruse cross to score a 78th-minute winner, with Jason Davidson sent off late.
Head to head
Round 4, 2021/22: Adelaide 1-2 Victory at Coopers Stadium
Round 22, 2020/21: Victory 0-1 Adelaide at AAMI Park
Round 12, 2020/21: Victory 1-3 Adelaide at Marvel Stadium
Round 5, 2020/21: Adelaide 1-0 Victory at Coopers Stadium
Round 21, 2019/20: Victory 2-1 Adelaide at Marvel Stadium
