Melbourne Victory cruised to a 5-1 win over Springvale White Eagles on Wednesday in a pre-season friendly.
Melbourne Victory cruised to a 5-1 win over Springvale White Eagles on Wednesday in a pre-season friendly.
In front of a crowd of about 800 at the Serbian Sports Centre, the Victorian Premier League outfit snared a surprise lead through Dominic D’Angelo in the early stages.
But Mehmet Durakovic’s side quickly responded with goals to Jean Carlos Solarzano and Archie Thompson putting them in front at half-time, before they ran away with it in the second half.
Victory started brightly and the interplay between Solarzano and Thompson was terrific from the first minute.
The former blazed over the bar after five minutes before he forced a terrific save from Springvale goalkeeper Nebojsa Vujic just moments later.
Against the run of play, Springvale took the lead when a Leigh Broxham turn over saw the hosts embark on a neat passing move before shot-stopper Tando Velaphi was beaten to his right by D’Angelo’s finish.
Victory were in search of a quick response and Thompson was next to go close before Tom Pondeljak shot over the bar.
Victory did finally equalise after 23 minutes when Solarzano followed up Thompson’s effort to tap in the leveller.
Pondeljak again fired over and the one-way traffic continued when Broxham had an effort saved, before Thompson bagged his first of the night on the stroke of half-time, with the Socceroo’s strike causing a goalmouth scramble before crossing the line.
Carlos Hernandez was introduced in favour of Broxham at half-time and Victory continued to dominate, with Pondeljak again going close before Solorzano saw a strike, which had Vujic beaten, flash past the post.
Thompson had his second of the night just after the hour-mark when he rounded out a terrific move that saw Hernandez and Solorzano go close to scoring, with the former’s shot tipped onto the post, before Thompson finished the move with his shot beating Vujic to his right.
Danny Allsopp and Petar Franjic both came on with 25 minutes to play for Rodrigo Vargas and Solarzano respectively, while Jimmy Jeggo replaced Grant Brebner.
Hernandez forced a brilliant save from Vujic before Victory put the finishing touches on the win with goals in the last five minutes to Hernandez and Allsopp.
The Costa Rican’s goal was smashed in from just inside the box before Jeggo’s clever cutback saw Allsopp finish the rout with a back-post finish.
Victory’s pre-season matches now step up, with clashes against fellow Hyundai A-League sides Gold Coast United, Brisbane Roar and Adelaide United to come.
