Newcastle Jets coach Scott Miller says he is very proud of the way his team took the game to Melbourne Victory in their away 1-1 draw at AAMI Park on Sunday afternoon.
Newcastle hit the front in the first half, but shortly after, Daniel Mullen received his marching orders with a second yellow card for his tackle on Olly Bozanic. The Jets managed to contain Victory for the whole game, however.
“Let’s not beat around the bush, small Newcastle Jets took Melbourne Victory all the way, so I’m very positive about the future of the club,” Miller said.
“We’ve taken the club resources, a championship winning side with history and expectation right to the end. I reviewed the stats post-game, we dominated it apart from possession.
“Let’s get something clear, Newcastle had a challenging few years, we’re not a group of individuals who want handouts and expect pity from anybody.”
The game did not finish without controversy, as Besart Berisha’s equaliser in the second half was clearly offside on replay.
The Jets boss was disappointed the goal was given and was adamant they were the better team on the day and had philosophically taken the three points.
“It was an offside goal, so it was a 1-0 outcome in reality,” he said.
“The offside ruling for Berisha’s goal, I think that was poignant in the context of the game. One shot on target was a result of an offside ruling from the linesman.
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“I’m sitting where I am and I knew it was offside straight away irrespective of our positioning.
“Granted I’ll give credit to Berisha for his movement off our central defender’s shoulder but we need to defend the source better in terms of pressure on the ball.
“We had more shots on target than Melbourne Victory away from home, we created four big chances in that period of time.
“Kevin Muscat will see the game differently, he’ll see it from a possession perspective which is natural.
“I’m looking at the stats and I thought the away side was the better team overall, in terms of chances created.”
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