Melbourne Victory head coach Kevin Muscat praised his team for a deserved win after overcoming the Central Coast Mariners 2-1 on Sunday.
Georg Niedermeier scored a 79th-minute winner for Victory after Ola Toivonen’s opener was cancelled out by a Matt Simon penalty at AAMI Park.
The result saw Victory move to within two points of second-placed Sydney FC with two regular season games remaining in the Hyundai A-League.
Speaking at a post-match news conference, Muscat discussed the win, Niedermeier and Elvis Kamsoba’s substitution.
on the result…
“You always get what you deserve, you always get what you deserve. We can look back at this game and other games and think what should’ve, could’ve, but the reality is you always get what you deserve. I thought we responded enormously. It was a massive response from the playing group and in the end we got our just rewards with the result, but first and foremost it was a performance that gives you that opportunity.”
on missed chances…
“We’ve got to get better at that final strike if you like, that finishes actions off. I’ll focus a lot more of my energy on how we created those combinations and the lead up to those build-up moments where we were in and around their box. I’ll concentrate and have a good look at that and first and foremost identify the reasons we were able to do that and perform like that and work on that first and foremost, work on creating more of those opportunities. Without a doubt, we want to get better at every aspect.”
on Niedermeier…
“I suppose that’s for him a little bit of reward because his season has been a little bit of a see-saw for him, up and down, with injury and suspension and I thought he was outstanding and the goal is I suppose a little bit of a reward for him and his application and his attitude over a period of time. I thought he was great.”
on top-two race…
“That wasn’t a clear focus. We’re worried and focusing on ourselves. We’ve got to concentrate and put in and let everybody else worry about themselves. From our perspective, we’ve got to recover now, we need to make sure we do the right things and stay committed and stay hungry in the next four days and go across to Adelaide, where we know what to expect. Adelaide will lift at home, it’s going to be a good game, it’s always a good atmosphere and we look forward to it.”
on Elvis Kamsoba coming off…
“Not an injury. He was just tightening up, he was tightening up in his hamstrings so he got through a lot of work for us and hasn’t really been exposed too much to that sort of intensity and in the end he’d run himself into the ground and with that there, there’s no shame in that whatsoever. He should wear that as a badge of honour, that he ran himself into the ground and he had to come off, rather than leave something in the tank, waiting for something to happen or waiting for someone else. He ran himself into the ground and that’s a badge of honour for me.”
