Paul Izzo | Building Momentum | Melbourne Victory

“When we build that momentum, when we’re united together, I think the Club can be close to unstoppable.”

A clean sheet for goalkeeper Paul Izzo topped off what was a resounding performance all-round in Sydney last Saturday night.

With the Club’s first home game of the season not too far away, Izzo says the team are looking to build momentum off of last week’s win and not make the same mistakes as last season.

“Obviously everyone’s really happy with the performance,” he said.

“But we’ve taken the lessons from last season, that one win doesn’t mean anything.

“Right now it’s about building momentum and continuing that run and we can keep going and push on to the next rounds.”

Having missed the last six weeks of pre-season due to a hand injury, Izzo returned to the side seamlessly ahead of our clash with Sydney and Head Coach Tony Popovic was full of praise for his performance.

“We haven’t had Paul for the last six weeks of pre-season,” Popovic explained.

“It shows how he’s progressing, that he can do four sessions and play no pre-season games in the last six weeks.

“And I don’t think he had much to do, but I think he communicated well and controlled the box well, coming out for crosses, and dealing with the long-range shots really well, which is not easy because I’m sure he would have fatigued throughout the game.”

As the team prepares for Sunday’s clash with Newcastle, the 28-year-old explained that not only is the team building momentum on the pitch, but they want to build it off it too.

“Round one we were away and we had tremendous support from the travelling fans,” Izzo said.

“We’re really excited to play in front of a packed AAMI Park for our first home game, we want to get the win to really get the fans on our side.

“When we build that momentum, when we’re united together, I think the Club can be close to unstoppable.”