Melbourne Victory played out a dramatic 1-1 draw with Adelaide United on Saturday night, with both teams forced to settle for a point from the first Original Rivalry game of the season.
Summary
Victory came firing out of the blocks, with Nishan Velupillay twice shooting on goal from inside the box within the first five minutes.
The bright start further emboldened the vocal home support, who spurred on their team as they piled on the early pressure.
However, the early momentum was seemingly brought to a halt after 15 minutes when Adama Traore was forced off due to an injury and replaced by Stefan Nigro.
Victory though were not deterred.
Bruno Fornaroli stole the show last time out and unsurprisingly came into Saturday night’s game brimming with confidence.
The Uruguayan’s red-hot start to the season continued just before the half hour mark, as Zinedine Machach powered down the right wing before a perfect cutback found the feet of Fornaroli, whose first-time finish nestled in the top-right corner of the goal.
Victory continued to create high-quality chances after taking the lead, the best of which fell to Velupillay and Fabian Monge, but Adelaide did just enough to keep their opponents at bay until half-time.
Velupillay continued to excel early in the second half, playing a brilliant ball in-behind for Daniel Arzani whose first-time cross towards Machach nearly led to Victory’s second.
Velupillay again fired on target a few minutes later, with the rebound falling to Fornaroli who was unable to keep his shot down.
Despite the wealth of chances for the home team, it was Adelaide who would land the next major blow.
A controversial free-kick awarded outside the Adelaide box was sent in just before the hour mark, where Hiroshi Ibusuki reacted best to equalise for the Reds.
The situation turned from bad to worse for Victory a few minutes later, as Roderick Miranda was sent off having been shown a second yellow card.
Tony Popovic turned to his bench in an effort to wrestle back control of the match, with Rai Marchan, Chris Ikonomidis and Ben Folami all brought onto the pitch across the final 20 minutes.
Franco Lino was also introduced to the contest, making his first team debut in the 70th minute.
Chances continued to present themselves at both ends of the pitch as the game edged towards its conclusion.
The final incident of the match ensured both teams would finish with ten players on the pitch, as Nestory Irankunda was shown the second red card of the game.
The spoils though were ultimately shared, with neither side able to find the winning goal.
Victory’s unbeaten start to the season continues, having claimed seven points from their opening three games.
Result
Melbourne Victory 1 (Fornaroli 28′)
Adelaide United 1 (Ibusuki 59′)
Next Match
Isuzu UTE A-League – Round 4
Melbourne Victory v Wellington Phoenix
Friday 10 November
Kick-off: 7.45pm (AEDT)
AAMI Park, Melbourne
