Match report | Victory fall late in stoppage time

A late stoppage-time own goal has seen Victory fall to Wellington 1-0.

A windy and rainy night in Wellington saw tough conditions for both teams and fans as both teams battled for a top-two finish.

Wellington found themselves with the first chance of the match in the 8th minute. Mohamed Al-Taay found himself with space on the edge of the box but sent his shot straight at Izzo who collected with ease.

Paul Izzo found himself in the action not long after in the 13th minute when Youstin Salas attempted a long-range shot from outside the box, but the Victory keeper was untroubled, collecting the shot once again with ease.

Victory’s first chance of the match came in the 17th minute with a Machach counter-attack. The midfielder got the ball at his feet in Wellington’s half, running all the way to the edge of the Victory box, but his shot was blocked and sent out for a throw-in.

Damien Da Silva and Jason Geria both stood strong in back-to-back Wellington chances. Kosta Barbarouses and Ben Old streamed into the box in the 22nd and 27th minutes, but expert tackles from Da Silva and Geria meant the Nix couldn’t get a pass away.

Da Silva once again stood up strong against Kosta Barbarouses in the 28th minute, who was on the counter-attack. The big French defender stood his ground and took the ball away from the former Victory attacker.

As the first half came to a close, Ben Folami rattled the side of the Wellington net after a brilliant run down the left side of the box.

A big chance came to Adama Traore in the 52nd minute. The defender came to support a counter-attack and found himself on the right of the box. After holding up possession on the edge of the box, Bruno Fornaroli sent a through ball to Traore who found some space on the right, letting lose a left-footed shot that was forced out for a corner.

Looking to bring on fresh legs, Tony Popovic made his first change of the night in the 64th minute, bringing on Roly Bonevacia and Chris Ikonomidis for Ben Folami and Fabian Monge.

With just under 15 minutes to go, Bruno Fornaroli had a golden chance to find the breakthrough. After weaving his way into the box, El Tuna found space on his right foot and sent a curling shot towards the bottom right corner, but Alex Paulsen threw a hand out, managing to send the shot out for a corner.

Just as full-time approached, Eli Adams came oh-so-close to finding the back of the net. Ikonomidis made a run down the left side of the box, sending in a pass across the face of the goal to find Adams streaming into the far post but the young attacker only managed to hit the side netting.

Disaster as the full-time whistle approached. A dangerous set-piece cross from Oskar van Hattum, unfortunately, found Miranda at an awkward angle and rattled the back of the net.

The full-time whistle blows and we fall to Wellington 1-0.

With finals already secured, attention now turns to Brisbane next weekend at home as our boys in blue look to secure a home final and potentially still a second-place finish.

Next Match
Melbourne Victory v Brisbane Roar
Date: Sat 20 Apr
Time: 5:30pm (AEST)
Location: AAMI Park
Tickets: http://mvf.club/almrd25