Melbourne Victory continued to build towards the season with a pre-season Friendly against the Central Coast Mariners at Epping Stadium on Wednesday.
Nick D’Agostino starred for Victory, scoring a first-half brace.
Report…
Clean conditions for football in Epping saw a fast start for the Mariners, who scored from a corner in the opening minutes after Ruhs’ shot deflected into the back of the net.
Victory hit back shortly after in the 12th minute as D’Agostino pulled off a moment of magic.
A well-delivered free kick from Lopez found D’Agostino in the box, who, facing the opposite direction to goal, redirected the cross with a deft touch to guide the ball into the bottom left corner.
Victory assumed control of the contest in the next 15 minutes, highlighted by a beautiful passage where Folami found Brillante in space but his shot was just wide.
D’Agostino scored his second of the afternoon in the 26th minute when Ikonomodis’ cut back was deflected into the path of the striker, who blasted the ball into the bottom right corner this time.
The Mariners found their groove out of the main break, scoring in the 47th and 53rd minutes through Ayongo.
Victory’s best chances for the remainder came off the boots of Will Wilson and Jake Brimmer, with both shots well blocked by the Mariners’ keeper.
Nathan Konstandopoulos came off the bench for his first Victory minutes in the second half.
Summary…
Melbourne Victory 2 (D’Agostino 12′ 26′)
Central Coast Mariners 3 (Ruhs 4′, Ayongo 47′ 53′)
