Positive signs in Sydney stalemate

by Tomasz Ng 0

There was a feeling of disappointment within the Melbourne Victory camp following the 1-1 draw with Sydney FC, as the visitors failed to make the most of their chances.

Victory dominated the contest from start to finish but paid for their profligacy in front of goal when Emma Kete scored a goal against the run of play.

Welsh midfielder Jessica Fishlock scored a late equaliser to ensure they did not go home empty handed, a result which she felt was the least the visitors deserved.

“I think actually that we could be a little bit disappointed,” Fishlock said.

“Throughout the game I felt that we were in total control of the game. We were creating a lot of chances, we caused them a lot of danger.

“On another day like against Newcastle Jets they probably would have gone in off someone’s ear but today the just didn’t go in.”

Her sentiment was echoed by Lisa De Vanna, with the forward being more blunt in her assessment of the match.

“I think it was a game that we should’ve won, three points were there for us,” De Vanna said.

“Sydney got pretty lucky with one goal and we had endless chances.

“There’s a lot of positives out of it and we created a lot of chances but chances don’t win games, that’s the negative side of things.”

Victory fell down when it came to the final pass, or even the finish, with the forwards looking out of sync at times.

De Vanna put that down to a lack of specific training for the attackers, but that they will understand each other better with time.

“It’s kind of hard because I think the girls don’t know exactly what to expect from me and I don’t know what to expect from them, but we’re working on it,” she said.

“Caitlin (Friend) is doing quite a good job, she scored three goals last week, and Enza (Barilla), she’s unpredictable sometimes and I think nearly every game she’s created something.

“It’s probably the one thing that we haven’t really worked on as much, we’ve been practising more on shape, and trying to press and work on more of a team thing than the last third.”

The performance on the weekend showed a marked improvement on where the side was from the start of the season.

Not only did Victory only concede one goal but they looked more superior than Sydney FC for large spells of the contest.

Brianna Davey copped the brunt of Sydney’s attacking power in Round 1, but was happy with how much the team has come along since then.

“I think we were all disappointed after the first game, it didn’t do us justice to how good we could be and I think the Melbourne Victory that you saw today is the Melbourne Victory that you’ll see more of,” Davey said.

“We just want look toward finishing our opportunities and just clean up a few of the scrappy things we’ve done coming out of the back.”

Fishlock was equally impressed with the team’s steady progress since her arrival, and felt outplaying the defending champions on their home patch was a great sign for the future.

“From the first match that I was in a part of against Perth and this game, that’s only two weeks, I felt that the team are growing,” she said.

“We probably didn’t control the game against Perth like we did today against Sydney and Sydney are the reigning champions so I think there’s a lot of positives to take from today’s game.”