Match Preview | Australia Cup Quarter Final

Melbourne Victory travel to Perry Park to face Moreton City Excelsior for a place in the Australia Cup Semi-Finals.

Our boys in blue are heading north for a crucial quarter-final clash against NPL Queensland outfit Moreton City Excelsior.

Moreton City are coming off one of their biggest wins in the club’s history, after defeating A-League Men’s side Perth Glory 3-2 in the Round of 16.

Victory, on the other hand, is coming off of two dominant performances in the Australia Cup against the Lambton Jaffas and NWS Spirit.

Nishan Velupillay is the competition’s top scorer after scoring a brace in each of Victory’s two fixtures.

Through the first two rounds, Velupillay’s four goals and two assists made him the joint highest with Hume City’s Aamir Abdallah for goal involvements.

Three of Velupillay’s four goals have come from outside the box and he remains the only player to have scored more than one from outside the 18 yard area in the competition so far.

Conversely, Moreton City’s Nathan Foster has made the joint-most saves from shots outside the box with five.

Velupillay won the Australia Cup with Victory in 2021, and with a chance of a semi-final berth on the line, he said some silverware ahead of the A-League Men’s season would be valuable. 

“What we want to do is win trophies,” he told Football Australia.

“We have a Quarter Final to get through first.

“They [Moreton City] performed really well, and to come back from 2-0 down is a great achievement.

“We’ll be doing our homework on them and trying to find the best way to beat them.”Â