Melbourne Victory were beaten 1-0 by Macarthur FC in the 2024 Australia Cup Final, with Marin Jakoliš’s second half goal the key moment.
Victory’s third Australia Cup final was played in front of a strong AAMI Park crowd, as they looked to get Patrick Kisnorbo’s first season in charge off to the perfect start.
Kisnorbo made two changes to the XI which started against Adelaide United in the semi-final, as Reno Piscopo and Kasey Bos were handed starts for the big occasion.
Both teams had spells of possession and territory control in the opening minutes, with the game promising to be an even and hard-fought affair.
Victory though soon took control of the contest, generating a number of high-quality chances.
Controversy arose as Kasey Bos was brought down in the penalty area, but no whistle was forthcoming.
Nikos Vergos came as close as anyone soon after the 20th minute as he cleverly created space for himself in the penalty area, but was unable to keep the subsequent shot down.
Nishan Velupillay also came close a few minutes before half-time, charging into the box before firing across goal, but once again Filip Kurto made an excellent save in the Macarthur goal.
The deadlock remained unbroken as the half-time whistle blew.
Roderick Miranda’s header from a corner saw yet another attempt narrowly miss out on opening the scoring early in the second half, as Victory looked to continue building on their ascendancy.
Despite the weight of chances falling the host’s way, Macarthur would land the first major blow just before the hour mark.
A swift counter-attack was duly finished off by Marin Jakoliš, leaving Victory with everything to do in the next 30 minutes.
Kisnorbo’s team continued to apply relentless pressure, with Bruno Fornaroli, Jing Reec and Jordan Hoey all brought into the game.
The new-look frontline continued to create chances, with Hoey in particular making an immediate impact off the bench.
Macarthur though held firm, repelling the series of Victory attacks to secure their clean sheet and second Australia Cup crown.
