Melbourne Victory have recorded back to back wins with a 1-0 triumph over Sydney FC at Etihad Stadium to finish off round 16 of the A-League.
The teams started brightly with chances at either end in the opening quarter of an hour; a one on one between Besart Berisha and Vedran Janjetovic and a Seb Ryall header collected by Danny Vukovic.
Some more early chances slowly turned into tight and tense football with the home side unable to penetrate the Sky Blues defence – a feature of this Sydney FC team.
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The second half saw both sides have little patches of chances but the Victory became dominant as the match wore on. They were rewarded for this in the 79th minue. Jesse Makarounas’ cross was turned into the goal by Matthew Jurman.
A late press was not enough for the Sky Blues, with Victory becoming the first of these two teams to record three consecutive wins in this fixtures.
Melbourne Victory
Danny Vukovic – 6: Was largely untroubled throughout.
Daniel Georgievski – 6: Solid in defence and had a few furores forward as well.
Matthieu Delpierre – 6: Typically solid shift from the centre back.
Nick Ansell – 6: Had a solid in his first start back after a long injury lay off. Played 74 minutes.
Leigh Broxham – 7.5: Was asked to move around this game, playing as right-back, defensive midfielder and centre back. Did what he had to do in all three position.
Rashid Mahazi – 6: Came off in the 60th minute and was decent at circulating the ball and breaking up play.
Oliver Bozanic – 6.5: Always working in the midfield, has yet to hit the highs of his first few games for the Victory.
Gui Finkler – 5: Arguably lucky to be on the pitch after a few challenges, didn’t offer very much.
Kosta Barbarouses – 8: Brilliant in the second half, consistently provided runs down the flank and created spaces for both himself and team mates.
Besart Berisha – 7: Had a few chances to score and will be disappointed he did not capitalise on them.
Fahid Ben Khalfallah – 5: Replaced by Thompson in the 77th minute, relatively quiet.
Substitutes
Jason Geria – 5: Replaced Mahazi in the 60th minute, did not have to deal with much.
Archie Thompson – 6: Came on in the 77th minute, created a few sparks.
Jesse Makarounas – 7: His cross was turned in by Jurman; a valuable contribution.
Sydney FC
Vedran Janjetovic – 6: Solid for the most part, could not do anything to stop Jurman’s goal.
Seb Ryall – 6.5: Loves playing against his old side, decent for large portions of the game.
Matthew Jurman – 6: Unlucky to have scored Victory’s goal, did well otherwise.
Rhyan Grant – 5: Nothing of note about his performance.
Jacques Faty – 7.5: Played very well against Victory’s attackers. Positioned himself well and made a few crucial blocks.
Milos Dimitrijevic – 6: Subbed off in the 83rd minute, played his part in filling the midfield, restricting space.
Milos Ninkovic – 6: Relatively quiet throughout the match.
Mickael Tavares – 6.5: Decent in the centre of the park, especially in the first half.
Christopher Naumoff – 6: Replaced on 59 minutes, quiet game.
Filip Holosko – 5.5: Had a few chances but nothing spectacular.
Matt Simon – 5: Caused a few headaches for the Victory defence but was otherwise quiet during his time on the pitch.
Substitutes
Andrew Hoole – 6: Came on in the 59th minbute for Naumoff, was unable to find the goal his side needed.
Shane Smeltz – 5: Came on in the 74th minute, could not find his team a goal.
Ali Abbas – N/A : replaced Dimitrijevic in the 83rd minute.
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