It is white against blue in what is surely the most anticipated A-League derby we have ever seen.
The premiers, Melbourne Victory, will welcome the newly turned princes of the A-League, Melbourne City, for a mouth-watering contest. With a spot in the grand final on the line, it is the biggest game in City’s history, and it will be played in front of what is expected to be a capacity crowd at Etihad Stadium this Friday.
Whether it was the prospect of a huge cross-town clash or the fear of criticism, John van’t Schip’s men gritted their teeth across the ditch and ground out a win over title hopefuls Wellington Phoenix. And now, City can dare to dream, with just 180 minutes of football between them and the A-League crown. Cherry ripe and full of confidence, Patrick Kisnorbo’s troops will be raring to go this Friday, with their disappointing end to the home and away campaign long-forgotten.
The City skipper stood tall yet again, having played every minute of his side’s 2014-15 campaign.
“It was a great, solid team performance. We had disappointing results the last two weeks but we showed good character,” Kisnorbo told City’s official website after the big win.
“Now we need to try and improve for this Friday’s game. Everyone defended and everyone attacked. It was a team performance.”
City defender Erik Paartalu spoke of his team’s hunger and the importance of not being satisfied with what it has already achieved.
“It’s going to be at training (City’s hunger) for the two days we’ve got. The reaction’s got to be a positive one,” Paartalu told the club’s website.
“You get confidence from those results (against Wellington). We’ll head into Friday night pretty excited.”
“It’s probably going to be one of the biggest games in the A-League’s history (this Friday) as a spectacle. To be a part of it is going to be amazing.”
Having received a yellow card in his team’s victory over the Phoenix, Paartalu will need to ensure he does not warrant for another if he plans on playing in this season’s finale, should City get there. Despite this, the tall screening midfielder expressed that it will not affect his match mentality in any way.
“If I have to a yellow card then I have to take a yellow card. That’s the game of football, I suppose. That’s been the great thing about this year; everyone’s done a job for the team. You can’t think about those things.”
A trophy drought spanning across five years has made the decade-old Melbourne Victory even hungrier for success. Having already delivered the premiers-plate this season, Kevin Muscat’s men will head into the game as firm favourites.
Despite this, the hurdle of a Melbourne derby will no doubt have come as something of a surprise to the Victory. Their home ground advantage will be all but meaningless in front of a bumper crowd at Etihad. Playmaker Gui Finkler claimed the titanic affair will not alter his side’s preparation in any way.
“We didn’t know who we were going to play against and now we know it’s City. We’ve been preparing all last week and we’re not going to do (anything) different,” Finkler told Victory’s website.
“It’s a special game, but I think we’re going to prepare ourselves like we’re going to play (against) any other team.”
While they no longer have a big home ground advantage, the boys in blue remain in the box seat having the week off to watch their upcoming opponents slug it out in New Zealand.
“They played on Sunday. It’s a long trip…I’d prefer to be in Melbourne resting.”
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The last time these two sides met was at Friday’s venue, where a dominant Victory embarrassed an insipid City team, beating them 3-0. However, it has not all been one-way traffic in Melbourne derbies this season. The team formerly known as Heart won once in three attempts against its neighbours.
French signing Matthieu Delpierre will have a big job on his hands in nullifying Josh Kennedy, who will be ripe with confidence after being the only player to score in City’s elimination final. Delpierre, however, will no doubt be up for the task, boasting impressive season figures in his 13 appearances for Victory this season.
The centre-back has so far won 84% of aerial duels and 70% of total duels this season, a colossus in the heart of his side’s defence. Perhaps City will need to look at starting David Williams alongside Kennedy up front for a second consecutive week to pose another goal scoring threat.
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