Melbourne Victory face Melbourne City in Round 9 of the Isuzu UTE A-League on Saturday, December 20, kick-off 7:35pm AEDT.
Victory prepared for the Christmas Derby by recording a welcome return to winning ways at AAMI Park last weekend, beating Adelaide United 2-1 in the Original Rivalry thanks to a Nikos Vergos brace.
The A-League Men’s team are back on home turf this weekend, albeit as the ‘away’ team, looking for more bragging rights in their penultimate game of the year.
2025 will end with Arthur Diles’ side hosting Wellington Phoenix on Monday, December 28, kick-off 7pm, the first of two visits to Victory’s backyard for the Nix this season.
The Boys in Blue
Cruelly, the Original Rivalry win was not sufficient to lift Melbourne Victory off the bottom spot, but given the concertina nature of the ladder, they are now just a single point from the top six.
The condensed state of the standings also means a triumph over Melbourne City would put Victory right on the tail of their local rivals.
And they head into the Christmas Derby fresh from a performance against Adelaide United, where except for conceding a late goal – not a fair reflection of Jack Duncan’s performance – everything seemed to click.
Full-backs Joshua Rawlins and Jason Davidson dovetailed effectively with Nishan Velupillay, on his first start of the season, and Santos, whose willingness to run without rest had an accumulative effect leading to the opener.
Making his fifth start of the season, Juan Mata gave arguably his best showing in Victory colours.
Hitting the bar in the first half and the heartbeat of every attack, the Spanish playmaker displayed his immense quality after producing a delicate touch and cross for the second goal.
The headlines, though, were rightly reserved for Nikos Vergos. As he did in March’s meeting, the Greek striker hit a double against Adelaide, opening his account for the season and launching the A-League Men’s team to a first home win of the campaign.
Vergos’ brace on the night made him become the first player to score at least two goals against the Reds on multiple occasions in Victory colours, a special achievement for the number nine.
Diles’ side will receive the boost of midfielder Denis Genreau returning to the squad after spending two weeks on the sidelines due to suspension, while the members on the injury list continue their pathway to recovery.
Round 9 Squad: 2. Jason DAVIDSON, 3. Adama TRAORE, 4. Lachlan JACKSON, 8. Jordi VALADON, 9. Nikolaos VERGOS, 10. Denis GENREAU, 11. Clerismario SANTOS RODRIGUES, 14. Matthew GRIMALDI, 15. Sebastian ESPOSITO, 16. Joshua INSERRA, 17. Nishan VELUPILLAY, 19. Jing REEC, 21. Roderick MIRANDA, 22. Joshua RAWLINS, 23. Keegan JELACIC, 25. Jack DUNCAN, 27. Louis D’ARRIGO, 29. Oliver DRAGICEVIC, 40. Jack WARSHAWSKY, 64. Juan MATA
Ins: 10. Denis GENREAU (return from suspension)
Outs: N/A
Unavailable: 5. Brendan HAMILL (injured), 7. Reno PISCOPO (injured), 18. Franco LINO (injured)
City business
Melbourne City are doing their best to juggle competing in the Asian Champions League Elite and their bid to reach the knockout stages, with the week-in, week-out rigours of the Isuzu UTE A-League.
They are one win away from sealing a spot in the round of 16 of the ACL Elite, recovering from defeats in their opening two matches to record three wins and a draw.
It was, however, either side of one of these successes, beating Johor Darul Ta’zim 2-0 at home, when they recorded their two most disappointing league results.
After losing 4-1 away to an up-and-down Adelaide United outfit, conceding twice in both the first and final 15 minutes, City played out a goalless draw on the road to Central Coast Mariners.
Aurelio Vidmar’s men regrouped, and a week later, again in New South Wales, Kavian Rahmani’s second goal of the season was enough to take three points home from Newcastle Jets.
Run it back
Melbourne Victory were unable to convert chances into goals in November’s hard-fought Melbourne Derby at AAMI Park.
Max Caputo’s second-minute finish could have taken the wind out of Victory’s sails, but they were persistent in their bid to pull level.
The best of these from Juan Mata and Matthew Grimaldi drew fine saves from Patrick Beach, but the visitor’s second, snuck in by Peter Antoniou before the hour mark, proved decisive.
Last time out
A solid Melbourne Victory performance, featuring goals in either half, sent Adelaide United home empty-handed last Saturday night.
The hosts come out strong against the Original Rivals from the word go, and Nikos Vergos’ 24th-minute goal, supplied by Jordi Valadon’s low cross, was the minimum they deserved.
Chances to extend the lead during the first half came and went, but the forward momentum was not halted by the interval.
Less than 60 seconds into the second period, Vergos netted again, heading home Juan Mata’s superb cross for what proved to be the winner.
A Dylan Pierias finish during the closing stages, when the Reds gambled in search of salvaging something late on, denied Victory a clean sheet in the end.
Melbourne City’s latest outing came in the Asian Champions League Elite, where a second-half equaliser earned them a point away to FC Seoul.
Former Manchester United player and England international Jesse Lingard opened the scoring shortly after the half-hour mark on what was his farewell appearance for the South Korean club.
But it would not be a winning one, as City substitute Takeshi Kanamori lashed home a leveller 16 minutes from time.
