Melbourne Victory’s A-League Men have suffered a crushing defeat away to the Western Sydney Wanderers on Saturday evening.
SUMMARY
Melbourne Victory have fallen to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Western Sydney at CommBank Stadium.
Victory came out of the blocks with intent, and recorded a first real chance just five minutes in when Chris Ikonomidis was handed an opportunity to strike early – but the winger was unable to turn an awkward bouncing football goal bound.
The deadlock remained intact after 15 minutes, and both sides struggled to take a foothold with half chances continuing to present themselves.
Paul Izzo’s form continues to go from strength to strength, as he recorded another impressive display in Saturday night’s clash – keeping the Wanderers at bay on multiple occasions.
Western Sydney sank Victory’s hearts when they opened the scoring at the very end of the first stanza, striking in the 46th minute to take a 1-0 lead into the break.
Brandon Borrello pounced on a through ball which split Victory defenders, and the Socceroo dispatched to give the lead to the home side.
Fernando Romero opened his second half with a golden chance, connecting with a cross on his head, but he was unable to steer the effort on target.
Victory struck back 11 minutes after the restart to restore parity and bring Melbourne level away from home through Nishan Velupillay.
Some crafty work from Chris Ikonomidis allowed him to deliver a ball which was too hot for Lawrence Thomas, presenting the ball to Velupillay who thrashed it home.
The game would turn soon after, when Roderick Miranda was adjudged to have made an illegal challenge on Borrello. After VAR’s intervention, Victory’s Portuguese defender was given his marching orders and shown red.
On their home turf, Western Sydney proved too strong for Victory to get back into the game, taking the lead through second half substitute Amor Layouni 81 minutes in.
Five minutes of additional time weren’t enough for the Victory, who struggled to claw back while down a man, falling to defeat in Sydney’s West.
RESULT
Isuzu UTE A-League 2022/23 Round 24
Western Sydney Wanderers 2
Melbourne Victory 1
NEXT UP
Victory return home to AAMI Park to host Macarthur FC for ANZAC Round on Sunday April 23, kicking off at 3:00pm AEST.
