Melbourne Victory Men beat out Sydney FC 2-0 in a U-NITE Round thriller at AAMI Park
Arthur Diles opted to make three changes to his starting XI for the Big Blue; bringing in Nikos Vergos, Nishan Velupillay and the long-anticipated Mitch Langerak who made his first appearance for the club in 15 years.
Velupillay and Santos on the opposite wing provided speed on the counter-attack early on, finding themselves in scoring opportunities that were well dealt with by Sydney’s defenders.
The Sky Blues seemingly scored against the run of play in the opening 10 minutes, but were found to be offside by the linesman.
It was an end-to-end opening, with Santos almost opening the scoring before Devenish-Meares pulled off a strong stop for the visitors.
However, Victory eventually found the opener after Ryan Teague’s corner found the head of Nikos Vergos who found the back of the net in the 24th minute.
Teague spoke post game about his strong start to the season, establishing himself as one of the top midfielders in the competition.
“I feel good at the moment… I’m just focusing on each game and every training that comes up and doing my best.”
Sydney almost immediately replied after Anas Ouahim drew a penalty kick for his side, but VAR review found the foul was committed outside the box and therefore it was called back for a free kick.
Some good stops from Langerak helped keep the visitors scoreless heading into the half-time break – a good start for the Navy Blues.
Sydney entered the second 45 eager to find an equaliser, pressing Victory high and dominating in possession.
Despite the attacking approach, resolute defending combined with the leadership of Langerak on debut ensured it would not be an easy feat to bypass Victory.
The atmosphere was tense in AAMI Park as Sydney continued to push for a goal.
In committing bodies forward, space was abundant behind the Sky Blues’ defence – an area that was exploited by Victory.
Kasey Bos sent a long ball over the top to substitute Bruno Fornaroli who fought hard for possession and finished past Devenish-Meares smartly in the 90th minute.
The experienced striker put his shirt on display in front of the North Terrace – sealing a crucial win for Victory.
Arthur Diles was pleased with the result, glad to record a hard fought victory.
“It’s nice to be rewarded for the hard work… it’s been a month now of hard work and some good performances and in the end, you keep going and you get rewarded.”
The three points see Victory swap spots with their opponents on the night, jumping up to 5th in the Isuzu Ute A-League ladder.
Melbourne Victory now prepare to make the big trip across the country, taking on Perth Glory on Saturday, February 1.
Match Details
Isuzu Ute A-League Round 16
Melbourne Victory 2 (Vergos 24’, Fornaroli 90’)
Sydney FC 0
Melbourne Victory Starting XI: 1. Mitch LANGERAK (GK), 5. Brendan HAMILL, 6. Ryan TEAGUE, 8. Zinedine MACHACH, 9. Nikos VERGOS, 11. SANTOS, 14. Jordi VALADON, 17. Nishan VELUPILLAY, 21. Roderick MIRANDA (C), 22. Josh RAWLINS, 28. Kasey BOS
Substitutes: 25. Jack DUNCAN (GK), 3. Adama TRAORE, 7. Daniel ARZANI (66’), 10. Bruno FORNAROLI (75’), 16. Joshua INSERRA, 18. Fabian MONGE (86’), 27. Reno PISCOPO (75’)
Sydney FC Starting XI: 12. Harrison DEVENISH-MEARES (GK), 6. Corey HOLLMAN, 7. Adrian SEGECIC, 8. Anas OUAHIM, 9. Patryk KLIMALA, 10. Joe Lolley, 15. Leo SENA, 16. Joel KING, 21. Zac DE JESUS, 23. Rhyan GRANT, 41. Alexandar POPOVIC
Substitutes: 1. Andrew REDMAYNE, 3. Aaron GURD, 4. Jordan COURTNEY-PERKINS (46’), 20. Tiago QUINTAL (67’), 25. Jaiden KUCHARSKI (86’), 29. Joe LACEY, 31. Jaushua SOTIRIO (67’)
