Melbourne Victory head coach Tony Popovic spoke to the media following Saturday night’s 1-1 draw against Adelaide United.
On the performance…
“I think you can’t start much worse than conceding early, although we started the game very well, on the front foot and we were controlling the game.”
“Their first attack was a goal. Obviously a quality player who did very well with the finish.”
“I thought we showed great character to come back.”
“When the results aren’t quite there, I think conceding early was always going to be a challenge.”
“But I thought the players showed a lot of confidence, a lot of belief. It didn’t look like a team that thought they couldn’t win and that’s really pleasing with all the young boys that are on the field.”
“It’s a game we should have won considering the chances we had.”
“We’re pleased today with a good point away from home. Now we have to build on that.”
On the non-award of a handball penalty…
“We’re told that his hand is next to his body, but the ball is going in the goal.”
“So I’m not really sure how that can’t be a penalty. For me it’s a clear penalty. I’m still shocked that that’s not given.”
“But that’s how it’s going for us at the moment.”
On the response in the second half…
“I thought we just continued on how we finished off the first half.”
“I thought we deserved that goal.”
“It’s a step in the right direction.”
On Rai Marchan’s injury…
“The doctors have been assessing (him).”
“He looks better now.”
“At the time…when I looked up at the screen I thought wow, you couldn’t hit him anywhere else that would do that.”
“It’s a shame for him and for us because we had to make an immediate change again and put on a young boy for a player that just came on. But the boys handled that well.”
“Most importantly, Rai looks in good health now. He looks better…we’ll get him back to Melbourne and make sure that he’s ok.”
On next week’s game…
“We’ve got another tough game in Perth.”
“Perth are doing very well at home, at [Macedonia Park]”
“We’ve got to be ready for another tough battle.”
