Penalties in either half saw Melbourne Victory have to settle for a 1-1 draw against Perth Glory earlier this evening.
Melbourne’s breakthrough came just before the half-hour when Fahid Ben Khalfallah fed Besart Berisha and Ante Covic was deemed to have brought the striker down near the top-edge of the box, although many would argue how much contact was actually involved. The Albania’s converted spot-kick gave the hosts the advantage among a tense first-half.
Ben Khalfallah should have put the game away minutes after the restart when a Kosta Barbarouses cross left him with an open goal, but the playmaker sent the ball embarrassingly over the crossbar. Victory were made to rue their wasted chances in the 74th minute, when a clumsy tackle from Mathieu Delpierre handed Perth a penalty of their own, which was rocketed into the net by Diego Castro.
The result snapped a streak of four-straight losses for Kevin Muscat’s men, but the scoreline did little to ease nerves of supporters, who felt that the effort was not up to par in the latter stages. Both penalties, particularly Berisha’s, were clear points of contention for many onlookers, while few could resist taking a jab at Ben Khalfallah as well.
Here are the best reactions to come from Twitter after the match:
Justice is served #MVCvPER
— Neil Wood (@woodface22) December 27, 2015
https://twitter.com/Knuttydutch/status/681016442607648768
Soft pen, but after the earlier one, I have no complaints.. Poor by the Frenchman #MVCvPER
— Dale Stevens (@Sui1977) December 27, 2015
I will never tire of hearing the @gomvfc faithful cheer for @10Archie. #MVCvPER
— Smith (@likethesurname) December 27, 2015
#MVCvPER Victory running out of steam ?
— Kevin Shrubsole (@KevinShrubsole) December 27, 2015
Listening to Leijer trying to justify the penalty for Berisha's dive in 1st half was comical. Call it for what it was – a dive!!! #MVCvPER
— Aye Bee (@WiseOne68) December 27, 2015
Clear dive from Berisha. Over to you @FFA #MVCvPER
— Vince Rugari (@VinceRugari) December 27, 2015
Nope, that's a dive. Minimal contact, and Berisha falls over in the box. I have a poisonous sense of Deja Vu right now #MVCvPER
— Ben Smith (@BenSmith94) December 27, 2015
Berisha cheating? Well colour me shocked! #mvcvper
— Andrew (@melatonii) December 27, 2015
https://twitter.com/TheBroxFacts/status/681010825113419776
How? Just how did FBK miss that? #MVCvPER
— Ryan's Rovers (@Ryans_Rovers) December 27, 2015
Berisha and Muscat must be really popular in Perth #MVCvPER
— brad esposito (@braddybb) December 27, 2015
Kosta and Geria just aint on the same wave length. Victory need to swap Georgievski back to RB #MVCvPER
— Ryan's Rovers (@Ryans_Rovers) December 27, 2015
Victory have really gone off the boil in the second half. Some of the passing not even up to State League standard. #MVCvPER
— Sacha Pisani (@Sachk0) December 27, 2015
If Victory play like this in the #ACL they'll get pumped at least a couple of times #MVCvPER
— Eamonn (@eamonnwarner) December 27, 2015
We're aware that player Berisha has been up to his old tricks again. We'll investigate. #MVCvPER #mrplotto
— Match Review Panel (@MRPLotto) December 27, 2015
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