Free of the licensing drama that had plagued the Phoenix throughout the week, Melbourne Victory shook-off their recent goal scoring issues in the league to record a comfortable 3-0 home win against Wellington.
Perhaps the perfect track to accompany the reaction by most Australian clubs to the news the Phoenix might be dumped by the FFA at the end of the season was the Victory’s home anthem Stand By Me, which rang out around the enclosed Etihad Stadium before kick-off.
Andrew Durante returned from injury to the heart of defence for the troubled franchise and he was lucky not to give away a penalty after fouling the dangerous Besart Berisha in the box with a trailing leg three minutes into the game. After dominating possession in their first three matches, the Nix were largely outplayed by titleholders Victory in the opening minutes of the match and the mounting pressure on the embattled New Zealand side showed as Berisha skilfully side-footed home a Gui Finkler weighted pass to put the Victory 1-0 up just before the 10 minute mark.
The Victory continued to swarm forward, as the Phoenix lost out on 50-50 challenges and struggled to keep the ball. Frustration told for the side in Yellow as Bonevacia received the games first booking for dissent in the 17th minute. Amazingly an unsighted Ben Sigmund deflected a Kosta Barbarouses close-range header agonizingly over the bar before Berisha headed just wide from the resulting corner, as the hosts asserted their dominance.
It was an open first 45, with plenty of chances created by the boys in dark blue and the nearest their New Zealand opposition came to an equalizer was a firm stop from a corner by Victory custodian Danny Vukovic as he stiff-arming a Sigmund bullet-header away on 24 minutes, while an excellent tackle from opposition captain Carl Valeri denied Roy Krishna in the 38th minute. A pulsating first stanza then came to an end, with the Melbourne side holding the advantage on the pitch and on the scoreboard.
The second-half began like the first had finished; with Melbourne continuously mounting attacks on the Phoenix and creating chances. Workhorse Barbarouses had too much time and space granted to him by the visiting defence and fired the ball towards the near post, deflecting off Durante for an unfortunate own goal to mark an unhappy return.
Then came the clincher at the hour-mark, and who else but Berisha to take the ball around Glenn Moss and score one-on-one after being released with a perfectly timed run from his own-half. With the result in the bag, Melbourne completed a great rebound from last weekend’s shock loss to the Jets, while the match compounded a week of pain for Wellington and their fans.
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