Melbourne Victory fell to a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Whittlesea Ranges in the NPL2 West on Saturday at Epping Stadium.
Summary
Going into Round 7, Victory was on a five-game unbeaten run and were looking to extend that record against Whittlesea Ranges.
Ten minutes in and against the run of play, Birkan Kirdar gave Victory an early lead. Kirdar found space inside the penalty area and opened the scoring by finding the underside of the crossbar.
Shortly after, Kirdar supplied Nuh Sehavdic with a chance to double Victory’s lead, but Sehavdic was met bravely by the opposing goalkeeper.
In the 21st minute, Whittlesea equalised from a corner when a looping header found its way over the line.
Déjà vu struck in the 54th minute, when a Whittlesea corner was converted by the head of Simon Colosimo, giving the Ranges a 2-1 advantage.
Victory’s goalkeeper, Matthew Sutton was called into action twice within the space of a minute and did well to deny both efforts.
On the edge of the Whittlesea penalty area, Kirdar found himself a free kick which he sent glancing over the crossbar.
Despite Victory’s defensive efforts, the hosts doubled their lead with fifteen minutes to go, when Jose Soto converted into an empty net.
In the 87th minute, Whittlesea’s Jacob Colosimo smartly finished from a low cross – confirming a 4-1 defeat for Victory.
Under-20s
Victory’s under-20s made it two wins on the bounce, with a convincing 0-3 win over Whittlesea Ranges at Epping Stadium.
NPL2 West 2018 Round 7
Whittlesea Ranges 4 (Gregory Lombardo 21’, Simon Colosimo 54’, Jose Luis Ramies Soto 74’, Jacob Colosimo 87’)
Melbourne Victory 1 (Birkan Kirdar 10’)
Melbourne Victory: Matthew Sutton, Andrew Visciglio, Maker Maker, Benjamin Carrigan (c), Aaron Anderson, Thierry Iradukunda, Nicholas Sette, Brady Quinn, Nuh Sehavdic, Birkan Kirdar, Yaziz Said.
Next week
Melbourne Victory returns to Epping Stadium on Sunday, April 15th where it will host Dandenong City.
