Only eight goals scored in a somewhat underwhelming round, but there were still some fine individual performances that caught the eye.
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On Thursday night Melbourne Victory won their fifth successive match, capping off a wonderful month with a 2-1 victory at home to Central Coast Mariners.
Rashid Mahazi put in a wonderful display in the centre of midfield, pulling the strings for Victory all night and was rewarded with three votes for best afield. Victory attacker Gui Finkler was at his imperious best, scoring a sublime brace, while in defence Matthieu Delpierre was composed and thwarted the Mariners’ strikers all night and received a vote for his efforts.
Brisbane Roar and Melbourne City had to settle for a share of the spoils after a 1-1 draw.
Henrique made it two goals in two matches since his return from a long-term knee injury and collected a vote, while Aaron Mooy – fresh off the plane from Bangladesh for the Socceroos – was City’s best player and edged himself further clear with another two votes. However, the best player on the night was Thomas Broich, who appears to be getting back to his scintillating best.
On Saturday evening Western Sydney Wanderers made it four on the spin after Mark Bridge’s last gasp winner against Wellington Phoenix. The veteran was in superb form and was by far the most influential player on the pitch.
Manny Muscat scored an equalising goal to cancel out Federico Piovaccari’s opener and defended manfully throughout the match, earning two votes. And the last vote went to Wanderers skipper Nikolai Topor-Stanley who marshalled his defence with aplomb throughout the 90 minutes.
In the stalemate between Perth Glory and Sydney FC, Mickael Tavares put in yet another industrious midfield display and was joined by teammate Matt Jurman in the votes (2), who kept Glory’s attackers at bay. Best afield was Richard Garcia who constantly provided a threat to Sydney FC and was unlucky not to help secure his struggling team all three points.
To wrap up the weekend, Adelaide United’s misery in front of goal continued as they played out a 0-0 draw with Newcastle Jets.
Mark Birighitti was outstanding between the sticks and was duly rewarded with three votes for his Man of the Match display. Former Victory midfielder Jimmy Jeggo had his best game of the season to silence the doubters, while fellow teammate Isaias did an excellent job at shielding his defence and being the pivotal link between attack and the back four.
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