Melbourne Victory recorded its first win of the Hyundai A-League season, beating the Newcastle Jets 1-0 in a Grand Final rematch on Saturday.
Summary
Terry Antonis’ fine strike from distance in the second half was enough for Victory to overcome the Jets at McDonald Jones Stadium.
The result was a repeat of Victory’s Grand Final success in Newcastle in May, when the club claimed its record fourth Hyundai A-League championship.
After a cagey opening, Victory was the first to threaten, Keisuke Honda almost finding Georg Niedermeier with a set-piece in the ninth minute.
The Jets went close to an opener just two minutes later, but Ronald Vargas was denied by Victory goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas, who made an incredible fingertip save onto his crossbar.
Thomas – like James Troisi playing his 100th game for the club – was called into action soon after, getting down low to save Jair’s effort from distance, before Lachlan Jackson headed a corner straight at the shot-stopper.
Despite being under early pressure, Victory had a good chance just after the half-hour mark, Jai Ingham curling an effort wide.
The visitor settled approaching half-time, enjoying some better moments going forward as the sides went into the break level.
Victory made a bright start to the second half and Kosta Barbarouses forced Glen Moss into a save shortly after the interval before having a goal ruled out for offside.
Kevin Muscat’s men continued to look for a breakthrough and Barbarouses had two good chances, the first set up by an exquisite pass from Troisi.
Victory took the lead in the 71st minute as Antonis scored for the second straight game.
The midfielder received a pass from Honda before rifling a tremendous effort into the bottom corner from 25 yards.
Thomas safely held onto a long-range Dimitri Petratos free-kick in the closing stages as Victory kept the Jets at bay relatively comfortably.
Player in focus
Key moment
What they said – Antonis
on the game…
“It was a very intense game. At the start, they were on top of us, but we built our way into the game and we got the win.”
on getting better as the game went on…
“There was a lot of pressure on them, they’re obviously at home, but once we took it all in, we started playing and controlling the game.”
on his left-footed goal…
“I’ve been doing it since I was young. Credit to training and to the boys and credit to Keisuke giving me that ball.”
Result
Hyundai A-League 2018/19 Round 3
Newcastle Jets 0
Melbourne Victory 1 (Terry Antonis 71′)
Newcastle Jets: Moss (gk); Georgievski (Kantarovski 79′), Boogaard (c), Topor-Stanley, Jackson; Ugarkovic, Ridenton; Petratos, Vargas, Jair (Austin 66′); Hoffman (Sheppard 75′).
Melbourne Victory: Thomas (gk); Roux, Deng, Niedermeier, Brown; Valeri (c); Honda, Troisi (Hope 87′), Antonis; Barbarouses, Ingham (Broxham 68′).
Yellow cards: Barbarouses 7′, Hoffman 34′, Ugarkovic 51′, Antonis 54′
Red cards: Nil
Attendance: 11,813
Venue: McDonald Jones Stadium
Next up
Victory is back at home in Round 4, hosting the Central Coast Mariners at AAMI Park on Sunday, November 11.
