Melbourne Victory delivered a professional away performance as they fought hard to claim all three points against Western Sydney Wanderers in Round 26 of the Isuzu UTE A-League on Saturday night.
Rapid Brazilian winger Santos ensured his 50th league outing for the Club was extra memorable courtesy of a stupendous run and finish that opened the scoring in the second half at CommBank Stadium.
Victory would double their lead in the contest’s dying embers, following the introduction of top scorer Nikos Vergos off the bench, who netted with his first touch of the game, sealing the win for the Boys in Blue, and giving them the best possible chance of a home Elimination Final next weekend.
The rest of the top six, excluding Premiers Plate winners Newcastle Jets, play each other on Sunday, with results in their matches to have a bearing on the final ranking of Arthur Diles’ side going into Finals.
Team News
Franco Lino, who picked up a knock to rule him out, was replaced on the left by Santos for his milestone appearance. There were starts for Louis D’Arrigo and Matt Grimaldi, as Keegan Jelacic and Jordi Valadon started on the bench. They were joined by the returning Juan Mata and Adama Traore, with Reno Piscopo an injury absentee.
Match Action
The initial rounds of this bout would best be categorised as shadow boxing. Ryan Fraser and Brandon Borrello were off target with unthreatening headers, whilst both Grimaldi and D’Arrigo had shots blocked.
When Fraser was then supplying rather than attempting to apply the finishing touch, he nearly carved out the opening goal. His flighted diagonal picked out the arriving Alex Gersbach, but Jack Warshawsky stayed alert and parried the volley away midway through the first half.
Victory’s goalkeeper was called on again soon after, shovelling a swerving Borrello drive around the post.
It was then the visitors threatening to break the deadlock, and when opposition netminder Jordan Holmes, by racing out of his goal to make a clearance, left his net exposed, it very nearly was. Denis Genreau, without hesitation, half volleyed the loose ball from a serious distance, only for his visionary strike to hit the post.
This moment of near-brilliance stirred the game into greater life, and once more Warshawsky was called upon, pushing away another Borrello shot.
Half-time: Western Sydney Wanderers 0-0 Melbourne Victory
When the match resumed, it was in a slumber, and when it was awoken, it was by the noise of Western Sydney cheers. There would, though, be a saving grace, with Atiya Waraga’s far post header to Bozhidar Kraev being ruled out for offside, following an extensive VAR review.
Needing a shake-up, Diles turned to his substitutes, replacing D’Arrigo and Grimaldi with Valadon and Jelacic. The luck would not change yet, however, and Genreau was again foiled by the woodwork, seeing his square ball deflected onto the crossbar.
Fortune would be Victory’s, though, with 71 minutes on the clock. For the Wanderers, it was the cardinal sin, but for Diles’ men, it was an exceptional counterattack. Warshawsky punched away a corner and 20 yards inside his own half, Santos pickpocketed Angus Thurgate before steaming into the distance to finish heartily.
This lead should have been extended ahead of some potentially nervy closing stages, but Nishan Velupillay’s lobbed effort would not drop in time, and the tension in Parramatta was heightened when Fraser hit the bar, and Dylan Scicluna struck the woodwork moments later.
Nerves were calmed, though, during injury time, thanks to Vergos, 120 seconds on from entering the field, sweeping home Jelacic’s pick out to make certain of the result.
Match Details
Western Sydney Wanderers 0
Melbourne Victory 2 (SANTOS 71′, VERGOS 90+2′)
Western Sydney Wanderers starting XI: 30. Jordan HOLMES (GK), 3. Alex GERSBACH (17. Jarrod CARLUCCIO 75′), 22. Anthony PANTAZOPOULOS, 24. Nathan BARRIE, 5. Dylan SCICLUNA, 7. Ryan FRASER, 25. Joshua BRILLANTE (C) ( 39. Awan LUAL 81′), 32. Angus THURGATE, 52. Atiya WARAGA (38. Jai ROSE 75′), 26. Brandon BORRELLO, 23. Bozhidar KRAEV (21. Aydan HAMMOND 75).
Substitutes not used: 20. Lawrence THOMAS (GK), 8. Steven UGARKOVIC, 19. Ruon TONGYIK.
Booking: None.
Melbourne Victory starting XI: 40. Jack WARSHAWSKY (GK), 2. Jason DAVIDSON, 21. Roderick MIRANDA (C), 15. Sebastian ESPOSITO (5. Brendan HAMILL 90′), 22. Joshua RAWLINS, 27. Louis D’ARRIGO (8. Jordi VALADON 65′), 10. Denis GENREAU, 11. SANTOS (64. Juan MATA 82′), 14. Matthew GRIMALDI (23. Keegan JELACIC 65′), 17. Nishan VELUPILLAY (9. Nikolaos VERGOS 90′), 44. Charles NDUKA.
Substitutes not used: 25. Jack DUNCAN (GK), 3. Adama TRAORE.
Booking: VERGOS 90+3..
Coming soon
Victory will know their Isuzu UTE A-League Finals Series Elimination Final opponent by the end of the weekend, with the fixture, versus one of Auckland FC, Adelaide United, Melbourne City, Sydney FC, scheduled for Saturday/Sunday, May 2/3.
