NPL Report: Victory return to winning ways

Melbourne Victory returned to the winners’ list in emphatic fashion on Saturday afternoon, claiming a 4-0 win against Beaumaris SC.

Team News

Head coach Joe Palatsides made two changes to his XI, as Christian Siciliano took up the starting goalkeeper position in place of Ahmad Taleb, whilst Noah Spaseski replaced Will Wilson.

Summary

Victory started the game brightly, intent on avenging last week’s disappointing loss in Shepparton.

Palatsides’ side dominated possession and created several early chances as they hunted their ninth win of the campaign.

The ball was in the back of the net just before the half hour mark courtesy of a clinical finish from Jordi Valadon, but the offside flag ruled the goal out.

Victory though continued to build the pressure and finally got their reward a few minutes before half-time.

A clever exchange between Valadon and Marc Latsis allowed the full-back to charge into the penalty area where he was brought down by a mistimed challenge, prompting the referee to point to the spot.

Star striker Adem Duratovic stepped up to the plate and fired home the penalty, taking Victory into a 1-0 lead.

Victory did not take long to double their advantage, as just a couple of minutes later Valadon was involved once again, this time scooping the ball over the Beaumaris defence and into the path of Noah Spaseski who finished off the chance.

The score remained at 2-0 up to the half-time break, as the visitors appeared well on their way to collecting another three points.

Victory continued to create chances following the interval, with Austin Ganino almost extending the lead at the start of the second 45.

The third goal would arrive just before the hour mark from an uncharacteristically direct passage of play, with a long ball from defence latched onto by Tim Atherinos, who cleverly rounded the goalkeeper before executing a simple finish.

Palatsides made full use of his bench as the game neared its conclusion, with Kasey Bos, Kayne Razmovski, Damien Bozinovski, George Karvounis and Nathan Stamatelos all substituted on during the final half an hour.

Bos made the most of his opportunity by adding his name to the scoresheet with just over 10 minutes remaining, finishing off a superb cross sent in by Atherinos and making the score 4-0.

On the whole an excellent performance from Victory across the park, reclaiming an outright lead at the top of the NPL3 table.

Head Coach Joe Palatsides’ post-match thoughts

On the performance:

“I’m really pleased.”

“We’ve been playing some pretty good football over the last month for which we haven’t necessarily been rewarded.”

“The boys had to be really switched on today because Beaumaris are a tough side to beat, especially at home.”

“I thought the team played really well both as a collective and as individuals.”

“To watch the boys being so focused and playing the type of football we want to play; it was a really complete performance.”

On rebounding from a loss:

“The belief never wavers within the team.”

“We know that football is a game where the better team doesn’t always win.”

“We just have to make sure that all parts of our game are really strong, and we did that today.”

On some of the interested onlookers:

“Our new Chairman, John Dovaston, and our Managing Director, Caroline Carnegie, were there today.”

“We’re happy to have given the new Chairman a good start to his tenure.”

“He came and met the players afterwards too, which was really good to see.”

Next Up

Victory return home to Epping Stadium next Sunday 11 June when they host Doveton SC as part of the club’s NPL Family Day.

NPL3 Victoria 2023 Round 12

Beaumaris SC 0

Melbourne Victory 4 (Duratovic (pen) 38′, Spaseski 40′, Atherinos 59′, Bos 78′)

Melbourne Victory U23s starting XI: Christian Siciliano (GK), Josh Inserra, Ryan Lethlean (c), Franco Lino, Alex Menelaou, Adem Duratovic, Jordi Valadon, Tim Atherinos, Austin Ganino, Noah Spaseski, Marc Latsis