Melbourne Victory have sealed their Premiers Plate triumph in style after an electric 3-1 win against the Central Coast Mariners.
The Victory bossed the game in what was a celebratory atmosphere at AAMI Park, with the script going exactly as planned for the home faithful.
Goals to Daniel Georgievski, Archie Thompson and Besart Berisha gave the home side the ascendency, while Eddy Bosnar made it two successful free-kicks in two consecutive matches with his dead-ball effort deflecting off the Victory wall and past Lawrence Thomas.
Melbourne Victory
Lawrence Thomas – 6.5: Could not do much about Bosnar’s free-kick, wrong-footed by the deflection off the wall. Was solid otherwise.
Daniel Georgievski – 8.5: Was right in the thick of it in the first half, opening the Victory’s scoring with a beautifully hit strike before copping not one, but two knocks to head late in the half.
Mathieu Delpierre – 8: Calm and assured in the heart of defence.
Nick Ansell – 8: Growing in stature with every game and seems to be benefiting immensely from the guidance of partner Delpierre.
Leigh Broxham – 7.5: Has played in a range of positions this season and always does the job the manager asks of him.
Mark Milligan – 7.5: Comfortable in possession and swept up any Mariners attacks and launched several of Victory’s attacking thrusts.
Carl Valeri – 8: Incredibly underrated footballer for the Victory. Constantly working to curb the opposition’s most dangerous attacking outlets and always the first player back to cover.
Gui Finkler – 7.5: Drifted along in the final third without any relative attention and played a hand in the Victory’s third goal with some sublime touches. His set-pieces were deadly as always. Replaced by Mahazi in the 77th minute.
Archie Thompson – 7.5: His glancing header gave the Victory a two-goal advantage just after the half-hour mark. An attacking pest throughout the 90. Replaced late to a standing ovation.
Kosta Barbarouses – 7.5: Constantly buzzing on the right-flank and did not put a foot wrong for the home side. Sprayed a couple of chances.
Besart Berisha – 8.5: Scored and played a hand in the build-up of another. Was at his menacing best. Thirteen goals this season for the Albanian. Missed a golden chance at the end of the match to notch a double.
Substitutes
Scott Galloway – 4: Replaced the impressive Daniel Georgievksi in the 71st minute and slotted in at left-back.
Rashi Mahazi – 4: Injected into the game in the 77th minute to replace Gui Finkler.
Connor Pain – N/A: Came on with just a few minutes to play.
Central Coast Mariners
Matthew Nash – 5.5: Really could not do much to stop any of the Victory’s goals. Bit of a nightmare game for the backup keeper.
Storm Roux – 6: Had the difficult task of dealing with Thompson for much of the match and did well considering the amount of ball the Victory played forward.
Zac Anderson – 5.5: Ran ragged by Berisha in attack and at times played too high on the Albanian.
Eddy Bosnar – 6: His long-rang free-kick took a massive deflection off the Victory wall to sail past an unsuspecting Lawrence Thomas, opening the Mariner’s scoring account.
Josh Rose – 5.5: Toyed with by Barbarouses for much of the match.
John Hutchinson – 6: Was feisty in his final match in the only way he knows how, also had little verbal altercation with Kevin Muscat after his ugly tackle on Leigh Broxham in the first half. Disappointing result in his final match before retirement.
Liam Rose – 6: Full of endeavour but like many of his teammates lacked quality on the ball. Replaced by Trifiro midway through the second half.
Anthony Caceres – 6.5: Checked by Valeri for much of the match and really could not find any time and space on the ball. Did manage to overcome the tight checking in the second half and bossed certain periods in possession.
Isaka Cernak – 6: Had a few opportunities to have an attacking influence but lacked a bit of composure. Replaced by Matt Simon on the hour mark.
Nick Fitzgerald – 5.5: Relatively unsighted for much of the match. Lacked quality service and was choked by the Victory defence.
Anthony Kalik – 5.5: Like his striking partner, was very quiet as the Victory defence stuck to their task. Replaced by Matthew Sim late in the second half.
Substitutes
Matt Simon – 4: Introduced into the match just after the hour mark in his final match for the club. Not the greatest of send-offs for the club legend.
Glen Trifiro – 4: Replaced Liam Rose in the 65th minute.
Michael Sim – 4: Came on late to replace Anthony Kalik.
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