Arthur Diles was encouraged to see his team put their foot on the gas a week out from the beginning of the 2026 Isuzu UTE A-League Finals Series.
Melbourne Victory showed no sympathy for their bottom-of-the-ladder opponents in New South Wales, inflicting a 15th defeat of the season on a sorry Western Sydney Wanderers side.
The Round 26 matchup at CommBank Stadium in moments had the potential to go either way, with both teams striking the woodwork on multiple occasions, and the hosts seeing a goal chalked off after VAR intervened.
But Victory possesed a killer instinct and executed this when it mattered most, scoring twice during the second half through Santos and Nikos Vergos to win 0-2 on their last outing of the regular season.
Speaking during his post-match press conference, Diles was clearly satisfied after his side applied some scoreboard pressure to the runners and riders jostling for position in the top six and a coveted home Elimination Final.
“It was really important to get the result tonight, to do our part. We can’t control other things and other games, but we could control what we do, and that was to get the three points we wanted to do everything we could for that, and it’s pleasing to get that. Now the pressure’s on the others.
“You’ve seen many teams over the years, quality teams that don’t make Finals, and there’s a lot of them this year that miss out also, and it’s a great occasion for us to be in another Finals series – and now the fun begins.”
The results from Sydney FC battling Auckland, and Melbourne City’s hosting of Adelaide United, are the only remaining determiners in Victory’s final ladder position.
Diles, though, knows whoever his men face next weekend, it is set to be nothing short of a blockbuster clash.
“Let’s see on Sunday night who our opponent is. There’s a lot of derbies in this Finals Series for us. More than likely, next week, whoever we face will be a derby. And irrespective of whether it’s a derby, it’s a Finals match, and derbies in Finals are even bigger.
“We’ve got to make sure we’re ready for that occasion. We’ll do everything we can to give ourselves every opportunity next weekend and do the best that we can to keep progressing in this competition.”
Watch Diles’ full press conference below.
