A tough night at Allianz Stadium for Melbourne Victory falling 3-0 to Sydney FC.
Just two minutes into the game, Jordan Courtney-Perkins’ cross into the box found Joe Lolley who managed to find the back of the net following a fortuitous rebound.
Sydney continued their early pressure, with strikes from Lolley and Segecic stopped by Jack Duncan in goals.
The game took a turn following a controversial VAR call that saw Zinedine Machach’s yellow upgraded to a red card in the 16th minute. Falling to ten men early in the half, Victory fought hard to stop the attacking threats posed by the home side.
Sydney doubled their lead in the 26th minute through a Joe Lolley brace – heading the ball past Jack Duncan delivered by Douglas Costa.
Despite the circumstances, Arthur Diles’ side pushed to find a goal back away from home. Chances appeared for Arzani, Vergos and Bos later in the first half; who were unable to ripple the back of the net.
Joe Lolley almost secured a hattrick in the final minutes of the half before the goal was ruled as offside – a relief for Victory heading into the break.
Arthur Diles turned to his bench at half-time, bringing on Santos and the experienced Bruno Fornaroli to reinvigorate his attacking line.
Victory entered the half cautious of not allowing Sydney to further extend their lead, opting to not press high which saw the Navy Blue threaten in counter-attacking scenarios on a few occasions.
As the half progressed, Victory began to gain more control in the game as they put the home side under pressure. Substitute Santos fired a powerful header at Harrison Devenish-Meares in Sydney’s net, while chances from Kasey Bos and Bruno Fornaroli couldn’t quite be directed on target.
Arthur Diles further introduced Jing Reec, Fabian Monge and Adama Traore to the game in the second half. However, Ufuk Talay’s side rallied defensively to keep out the Navy Blue.
Sydney added a third to their tally in the 86th minute thanks to a counter-attacking move finished off by Jaiden Kucharski that ultimately killed Victory’s momentum.
While Victory recorded over double the total shots of their opposition in the second half (11 to 5), they couldn’t find the necessary finishing touches as the Big Blue finished 3-0 to Sydney FC.
Victory’s tough start to the game ultimately could not be recovered against a clinical Sydney FC side, however the Vuck maintained their third position on the Isuzu Ute A-League Men’s ladder after the result.
Melbourne Victory will look to bounce back in New Zealand against top-of-the-table Auckland FC on New Year’s Day before returning to face the Western Sydney Wanderers at home on January 4.
Tickets available via Ticketek.
