February 18, 2023
A Saturday night in Australia and there is a free-to-air game on the TV !
The Melbourne derby was being held at the AAMI Park and broadcast on channel 10 Bold. City were top of the A-League with a 10-4-1 record, their sole defeat coming with a 1-2 reverse at Sydney FC. On the other hand, Victory were bottom with a 4-2-9 record.
Since 2014, Melbourne City have been part of the of the of the ownership group that owns Manchester City, and they won the A-League Premiership in 2020/21 and 2021/22.
The City side tonight included Aidan O’Neill, who featured in these diaries for Central Coast Mariners, scoring against Sydney FC in 2019, whilst Mathew Leckie and Jamie MacLaren were part of the Australia squad for the 2022 World Cup. Indeed, Leckie scored the goal in the 1-0 win over Denmark that saw Australia advance to the knock-out rounds.
The last completed meeting between the two sides was a 2-0 win for City, but the return encounter between in December was abandoned after crowd trouble. The game was abandoned after 20 minutes when supporters invaded the pitch in protest over the decision to give the rights of the Grand Finals to the NSW Government irrespective of who the finalists were, regardless of the tradition of the highest placed side being able to host the finals. City keeper Tom Glover was hospitalized after being hit in the face by a metal bin.
Bet365.com made City 2/3 favourites tonight, with the draw at 9/4 and Victory at long odds at 11/2
Victory took an unexpected in the 6th minute when French defender Damien Da Silva, ex- Lyon, Rennes and Caen, in his second appearance for Victory, headed home Brimmers’ corner from 6 yards.
City had a great chance to equalize in the 15th minute when Leckie was put through and just had to round the keeper, but a heavy first touch from the ex-Hertha Berlin and Borussia Moenchengladbach 76 cap international, forced him wide and the chance was gone. Leckie then headed over from a corner in the 21st minute.
City pressed for an equalized and Leckie headed over from a corner, but the equalizer arrived in the 24th minute when Dutchman van der Venne’s cross from the left was back headed into the corner of the net by Leckie to make it 1-1.
City pressed in the remainder of the first half, and Victory midfielder Chapman was shown the first yellow card of the game for a nasty challenge. City’s Maclaren then had a great opportunity to give his side the lead, but after skipping inside a challenge from Da Silva, his effort was well saved by keeper Izzo.
As the half-time whistle blew, both sides would have been satisfied with the level scoreline but Victory took an almost immediate lead in the second half when Folami crossed from the left and Fornaroli slid in. Although his first effort produced a good save from Glover, the ex-Sampdoria and Panathinaikos man responded quickly to tap in to give Victory the lead.
City predictably pressed for the equalizer and ex-RKC Waalwijk midfielder van der Venne’s effort was blocked by former Wolves defender Roderick Miranda.
Victory came close to extending their lead in the 69th minute by City keeper Glover made a great stop to deny Fornaroli, but City continued to search for the equalizer and Van der Venne’s long range attempt was parried away by Victory keeper Izzo.
The result looked to have been settled when veteran Victory midfielder Joshua Brilliante ( 5 caps ) sent a long range effort that took a deflection and sailed over the City keeper to give his side a 3-1 lead after 76 minutes.
However, if Victory thought the three points were in the bag, Lockie showed a great first touch to get past full-back Geria to fire in at the near post past keeper Izzo.
With the result back up for grabs, keeper Izzo was forced into an important grab from a rebound, and then Maclaren under pressure, headed over from 6 yards. In the final play, Maclaren had a header from 8 yards, but it was an easy save from 8 yards, as back-markers Victory held out for an unexpected three points and open up the title race.
Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvFV0yTFSd8
Melbourne Victory : Izzo – Geria, Da Silva, Roderick Miranda ( Vellupillay ), Cadete – Ikonomiois, Brilliante, Brimmer ( Kostandopoulos ) , Chapman ( Broxham ), Folami ( Kamau ) – Fornaroli ( Romero )
Melbourne City : Glover – Talbot ( Galloway ), Lam, Pereira, Bos – Leckie, van der Venne, Berenguer ( Nabbout ), O’Neill, Tilio ( Berisha ) – Maclaren
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