Matthew Grimaldi’s late strike gave Melbourne Victory a dramatic derby win over their local rivals in Round 9 of the Isuzu UTE A-League.
The 22-year-old attacker had only been on the field for five minutes when he grabbed an injury-time winner to settle a Christmas Derby that appeared on course for a stalemate.
Grimaldi’s fizzing shot from the edge of the box was his first goal for the Club and sparked frenzied scenes in the stands of AAMI Park on Saturday night for the second match day in a row, following last weekend’s success over Adelaide United.
Victory had earlier gone closest when Nikos Vergos’ audacious chip was impressively clawed away by opposition goalkeeper Patrick Beach.
They also had their stopper, Jack Duncan, to thank for keeping things level during the second 45, with his denial of Medin Memeti being a masterclass in reacting to a close-range header.
Team News
Diles named an unchanged starting XI for the Melbourne Derby, sticking with those who did the business versus Adelaide a week earlier. This meant Denis Genreau, available for selection after serving his two-game suspension, was amongst the substitutes.
Match Action
Both sides offered plenty of attacking initiative in the opening exchanges, even if the final pass or shot was missing in the moment that mattered.
Vergos had the best chances for Victory, forcing a reflex, near-post save from Beach before the striker got his angles wrong when attempting to side-foot volley a clipped delivery from midfielder Jordi Valadon.
At the other end, City worked an opportunity in close confines, but Max Caputo’s sight of goal was snuffed out by a timely intervention from the Captain, Roderick Miranda.
Caputo would have a much clearer chance approaching the half-hour mark, finding himself one-on-one with Duncan, the forward was superbly denied by Victory’s goalkeeper.
And despite the offside flag then being raised, the magnitude of Duncan’s stop was revealed when replays showed it was a 50-50 call.
It was next Elbasan Rashani foiled by Duncan, with Caputo on the turn, slashing the rebound well wide of the target, much to the enjoyment of the North End.
Half-time: Melbourne City 0-0 Melbourne Victory
The first notable chance of the second half was a Victory one. Juan Mata and Santos connected well in transition on the left, and when the ball was worked centrally to Vergos, it took a full-stretch save from Beach to stop the looping effort dipping in.
In the 59th minute, the woodwork again denied City. From Emin Durakovic’s corner, Caputo was again the threat, watching his floating header hit the crossbar flush.
Then, for a split second, it appeared Diles’ team had edged in front. Vergos intercepted a Valadon shot, and the rebound to his effort was tucked away by Santos, only for a correct offside call to chalk it off.
Chances kept coming for either side, this time Rashani finding space on the left and stinging the palms of Duncan, who got across his goal well to beat the attempt away.
In the final quarter, the Head Coach turned to his bench, first introducing Genreau and then rolling out a double change as Keegan Jelacic and Jing Reec were brought on – Grimaldi would follow later.
It was, though, again Duncan proving his worth before any more Victory attacks were fashioned. The netminder produced his best save of the contest, reacting in ultra-fast time to keep out Memeti’s bullet header from a corner.
This moment of defiance cued up the grandstand finish, and cometh the hour, cometh the Melbourne boy.
Substitute Grimaldi was the beneficiary of Mata’s decision to not just hurl in a contestable cross, receiving a pass from Genreau, quickly shifting the ball onto his supposed weaker left foot and unleashing an unstoppable low effort to win the derby.
Netting his first sporting Victory colours, in memorable fashion, Grimaldi’s magic proved the difference on the night, with the full-time whistle arriving shortly after and celebration erupting among the Victory faithful.
Match Details
Melbourne City 0
Melbourne Victory 1 (GRIMALDI 90+1′)
Melbourne City starting XI: 1. Patrick BEACH (GK), 10. Takeshi KANAMORI (38. Beckham BAKER 81′), 11. Elbasan RASHANI (35. Medin MEMETI 78′), 13. Nathaniel ATKINSON (37. Peter ANTONIOU 68′), 16. Aziz BEHICH (C), 17. Max CAPUTO (15. Andrew NABBOUT 68′), 19. Zane SCHREIBER (4. Liam BONETIG 68′), 22. Germán FERREYRA, 27. Kai TREWIN, 30. Andreas KUEN, 39. Emin DURAKOVIC.
Substitutes not used: 33. Dakota OCHSENHAM (GK), 44. Besian KUTLESHI.
Booking: FERREYRA 63′.
Melbourne Victory starting XI: 25. Jack DUNCAN (GK), 22. Joshua RAWLINS, 21. Roderick MIRANDA (C), 15. Sebastian ESPOSITO, 2. Jason DAVIDSON, 8. Jordi VALADON, 27. Louis D’ARRIGO (10. Denis GENREAU 67′), 11. SANTOS (14. Matthew GRIMALDI 85′), 64. Juan MATA, 17. Nishan VELUPILLAY (23. Keegan JELACIC 73′), 9. Nikos VERGOS (19. Jing REEC 73′).
Substitutes not used: 40. Jack WARSHAWSKY (GK), 4. Lachlan JACKSON, 16. Joshua INSERRA.
Booking: DAVIDSON 17′, D’ARRIGO 50′, VALADON 72′.
Coming soon
Another AAMI Park outing, this time as the home team, awaits Victory before 2025 is closed for business. Diles’ side welcome Wellington Phoenix for a festive football feast between Christmas and New Year’s.
