A frustrating Saturday night saw Melbourne Victory’s first trip West of the A-League Men’s season end in defeat.
There was reason to be optimistic about the contest early on, with the Victory holding the ascendency following a bright start.
Head Coach Tony Popovic spoke post-match, explaining: “You’re never happy when you lose the game, this is obviously a tough trip.”
Victory’s frustrations in front of goal continued, unable to make the most of chances in and around the box, something recognised by Popovic and his staff.
“I thought we started very well, really positive. Just unfortunate at the moment, when we’re on top we can’t score.”
“We didn’t capitalise on the momentum when we had it.
“It’s just disappointing at 1-1 while we were on top, and you felt we had the ascendency and momentum again, we conceded a goal.”
According to Popovic, Victory’s struggles are not through lack of effort.
“Look, the character’s there. You can see they’re resilient, they’re fighting.”
“We’re finding it hard recently to score first, so we’re constantly chasing the game. The spirit’s there, we’re just lacking those moments of quality to put an opponent away when we’re on top.”
Roderick Miranda drew the game level in the 69th minute with an acrobatic effort, but it wasn’t enough.
Perth Glory’s Adam Taggart entered, and scored a brace within the final 10 minutes of regulation time to send the home side into a 3-1 lead.
Victory’s attention now turns to Thursday’s double header with Sydney FC, as both sides gear up to return to AAMI Park for the Club’s annual U-NITE Multicultural Round.
