Melbourne Victory made it eight games unbeaten to start an A-League season for the first time in the club’s history after securing a 3-2 win over Adelaide United in what proved to be an intense and high-pressure encounter at AAMI Park on Friday night.
Muscat’s men have escaped with the three points via two early own goals during the club’s official 10-year-anniversary game, consigning Adelaide United to their 13th defeat from 17 away games against the Victory.
The clash pitted two of the A-League’s strongest sides against each other and was billed by some as a Grand Final preview with many expecting the game to be a high-quality encounter, and they weren’t wrong, with the game contested right until the final whistle.
It was Melbourne who opened up the scoring in the 7th minute with an unlikely goal coming from Adelaide’s Nigel Boogaard who headed a Gui Finkler cross into his own net after some miscommunication with goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic, who rushed off his line.
The visitors hit back quickly with Reds attacker Awer Mabil powerfully slotting home a Craig Goodwin cross after sprinting forward and leaving Daniel Georgievski for dead, equalising at the back post in the 14th minute.
It was Nigel Boogaard who would help Victory get the lead back in the 16th minute after his attempted clearance of a Finkler pass struck Sergio Cirio, before the ball went past Eugene Galekovic and into the back of the net – much to the delight of home supporters.
Melbourne’s constant pressure and attacking prowess paid off as they extended their lead in the 32nd minute when Leigh Broxham got a free header in the box to easily nod home the equaliser from Fahid Ben Khalfallah’s cross.
Josep Gombau’s side thought to have got their second goal in the 35th minute as Goodwin weaved a beautifully-struck direct free-kick over the wall and in between Coe and the near post but referee Kris Griffiths-Jones whistled for a foul and cancelled out Goodwin’s spectacular effort for reasons known only to himself.
Griffiths-Jones was again the centre of controversy a minute later when he paid a penalty for Adelaide United after Sergio Cirio went to ground with seemingly minimal contact from Adrian Leijer – with Marcelo Carrusca stepping up to the mark and striking the ball into the centre of the goal to make it 3-2.
The second half was similar to the first, with both sides creating well-worked chances and coming close to goal, and Goodwin almost levelled the scores in the 62nd minute but his free-kick from outside the box sailed just over the crossbar.
The Reds were almost rewarded for their pressure on the Victory and it was up to Bruce Djite to nab Adelaide’s third in the 67th minute but his effort from inside the box flew right of the mark and out for a goal kick.
Despite Adelaide’s constant pressure in the second half, the visitors were unable to impact the score line and the Victory were able to keep the Reds at bay long enough to escape with the three points and notch up their fifth win of the season and hand Adelaide its first loss of the season.
Melbourne Victory will travel to Gosford to face the Central Coast Mariners at North Sydney Oval on Friday with kick-off scheduled for 7:40 pm.
MATCH STATS:
Melbourne Victory 3 (Boogaard (OG) 7’, Cirio (OG) 16’, Broxham 32’) def Adelaide United 2 (Mabil 14’, Carrusca (PEN) 37’) [HT: 3-2]
Melbourne Victory: 1.Nathan Coe (GK), 5. Mark Milligan (C) 6. Leigh Broxham, 7. Gui Finkler (10. Archie Thompson 75’), 8. Besart Berisha, , 9. Kosta Barbarouses, 14. Fahid Ben Khalfallah (16. Rashid Mahazi 85’), 15. Daniel Georgievski, 21. Carl Valeri, 23. Adrian Leijer, 24. Scott Galloway (4. Nicholas Ansell 70’)
Unused Substitutes: 20.Lawrence Thomas (GK), 11. Connor Pain
Yellow Cards: Barbarouses 11’, Leijer 69’, Georgievski 83’
Red Cards: Nil
Adelaide United: 1. Eugene Galekovic (GK), 2. Michael Marrone (7. Pablo Sanchez 66’), 3. Nigel Boogaard, 5. Osama Malik (4. Dylan McGowan 60’), 8. Isaias, 9. Sergio Cirio, 10. Marcelo Carrusca (18. James Jeggo 65’), 11. Bruce Djite, 16. Craig Goodwin, 17. Awer Mabil, 21. Tarek Elrich
Unused Substitutes: 30. John Hall (GK), 22. Fabio Ferreira
Yellow Cards: Isaias 55’, Elrich 70’, Mabil 83’
Red Cards: Nil