A healthy crowd packed into AAMI Park on a warm afternoon as Victory looked to build on their memorable mid-week win over Western United.
The game was a tight affair early on as both sides looked to settle into the contest.
The first major chance arose just before the 20th minute when Daniel Arzani’s shot from inside the box rolled narrowly wide of the post.
The Mariners’ best chance early in the game arose minutes before the half-hour mark, when a free-kick drew a strong save from Paul Izzo.
High-quality chances though remained hard to come by throughout the half, with both sides forced to settle for a 0-0 scoreline at the break.
Tony Popovic turned to his bench at the break, bringing Jake Brimmer into the action in place of Fabian Monge.
The Mariners though were the team to strike early in the second half.
A set-piece delivery found its way through almost every player on the pitch, before reaching Ryan Teague who was barely unable to keep the ball out of his team’s net.
The goal applied the pressure on the home team who were now searching for a way back into the contest.
Ben Folami, Chris Ikonomidis and Jordi Valadon were all brought into the game as Victory continued their hunt for an equaliser, but the Mariners continued to repel the attempts.
The game appeared to be heading towards a quiet conclusion, before exploding into life in the final few minutes.
Three red cards were shown from the 80th minute onwards, including to Victory’s Roderick Miranda and Valadon.
Amongst the chaos, Kasey Bos was brought on for his senior debut, replacing Zinedine Machach in stoppage time.
Despite all the chaos and a golden opportunity for the Mariners to score a second at the death, there were to be no more goals in the game, with the visitors holding on for a 1-0 win.
Next Match
Brisbane Roar v Melbourne Victory
Date: Sun 3 Mar
Time: 5:00pm (AEDT)
Location: Suncorp Stadium
