Melbourne Victory is targeting a second straight win in the NPL 3 Victoria when it hosts Geelong on Sunday.
Summary
Victory goes into the clash at Epping Stadium on the back of an impressive 4-1 win over Nunawading City.
William Wilson, Gianluca Iannucci and Nishan Velupillay were on the scoresheet at Mahoneys Reserve, where an own goal sealed Victory’s win.
Wilson and Velupillay took their goal tallies this season to two, while Iannucci’s free-kick was his first strike of the campaign.
Velupillay was rewarded for his good form by getting called up to the A-League squad to face Sydney FC on Tuesday.
The win came on the back of a fine team performance during which Victory created several other opportunities and looked relatively comfortable defensively.
Sitting sixth, it looks to build on that display when it hosts seventh-placed Geelong at Epping Stadium.
Victory and Geelong last met in June 2019, playing out a goalless draw.
General Manager – Football Drew Sherman’s pre-match thoughts
“Last week we spoke about the importance of ensuring that we secured a result rather than being content with a good performance and narrow defeat, after doing that in the Nunawading game the focus for this week will be on our ability to find consistency and back that up again against a good Geelong side that have had a solid start to the season and sit level on points with us.
“We’ve really good competition within the group for starting places so motivation is high amongst the boys. Nishan’s call up into the A-League squad for the Sydney game this week adds to that motivation, and it’s come off the back of three consistently good performances in the youth matches. Prior to him, a few weeks ago it was Lleyton Brooks who was performing well and he’s continued that at A-League level.
“Our players know very well, that we’ve debuted 12 Academy-produced players in the little over two and a half years I’ve been here. Nishan could be the 13th this evening and there are a few others who will be thinking demonstrating consistency in performance against Geelong could mean they’re next. Steve Kean has spoken to them about how until the end of the season he’s willing to give them an opportunity if they are performing and of course they’ll all be hoping to impress.”
This week
NPL 3 Victoria: Melbourne Victory v Geelong (Sunday, May 2 at 3.00pm AEST at Epping Stadium, Melbourne)
U21 NPL 3 Victoria: Melbourne Victory v Geelong (Sunday, May 2 at 12.30pm AEST at Epping Stadium, Melbourne)
U19 NPL 3 Victoria: Melbourne Victory v Geelong (Sunday, May 2 at 10.00am AEST at Harvest Home Recreation Reserve, Melbourne)
U17 NPL 2: Heidelberg United v Melbourne Victory (Sunday, May 2 at 3.15pm AEST at Olympic Village, Heidelberg)
U16 NPL 1: Melbourne Victory v Box Hill United (Sunday, May 2 at 1.15pm AEST at Harvest Home Recreation Reserve, Melbourne)
U15 NPL 3 North/West: Eltham Redbacks v Melbourne Victory (Sunday, May 2 at 11.30am AEST at Eltham North Reserve, Eltham)
U14 NPL 3 North/West: Melbourne Victory v Werribee City (Sunday, May 2 at 12.00pm AEST at Harvest Home Recreation Reserve, Melbourne)
Last week
NPL 3 Victoria: Nunawading City 1 Victory U21s 4 (Wilson 7′, Iannucci 13′, Velupillay 32′, Apostolopoulos 63′ og)
U21 NPL 3 Victoria: Nunawading City 0 Victory U19s 6 (Parish 11′, Anastovski 12’/30’/84′, Kuol 58′, Gandhi 70′)
U19 NPL 3 Victoria: Nunawading City 1 Victory U17s 4 (Petrevski 11′, Stamatelos 35′, Ganino 49′, McDonald 71′)
U17 NPL 2: Victory U16s 3 (Connel 18′, Minutoli 29′, York 75′) Werribee City 2
U16 NPL 1: Oakleigh Cannons 1 Victory U15s 3 (Coveny 26′, Mandic 55′, Aluthjage 78′)
U15 NPL 3 North/West: Victory U14s 3 (Reec 3′, Hoang 45′, Wico 70′ pen) Brimbank Stallions 0
U14 NPL 3 North/West: Melbourne Knights 0 Victory U13s 4 (Borek 6′, Houridis 41′, Durando 42’/44′)
