In front of an animated and rapturous crowd of 50,873, a clinical Melbourne Victory secured their place in the grand final with a dominant 3-0 win against an injury-riddled Melbourne City.
Victory opened the scoring in the 18th minute after Besart Berisha nodded home a Leigh Broxham cross from inside the six yard box. Kosta Barbarouses made it 2-0 inside 30 minutes scoring one of the goals of the season, volleying home a pin point cross from Fahid Ben Khalfallah.
City’s hopes of finding a way back into the game all but faded when they were forced into three early substitutions due to injury. In an unlucky 20-minute period, David Williams, Aaron Mooy and Harry Novillo were all forced from the field, ending any hope of a City fight back.
Archie Thompson, coming off the bench, sealed the win with a tap-in off the post to send Victory into a home final versus the winner of the second final between Sydney FC and Adelaide United.
Melbourne Victory
Lawrence Thomas – 8: Was called upon to make some world class saves throughout the game. A low diving save to his left at the end of the first half and a superb save off a free kick prevented any chance Melbourne City had of getting back into the game.
Daniel Georgievski – 7: Rarely troubled firstly by Williams and then Mate Dugandzic. Confident pushing forward and contributed to Victory’s attack with his overlapping runs.
Matthieu Delpierre – 8: Once again proved his importance to Victory’s team with an impeccable performance at the centre of defence. His vision and long passing contributed to the opening goal.
Nick Ansell – 7: Another strong performance in partnership with Delpierre at the back. However, at times was a little weak in the air but kept Josh Kennedy quiet for most of the night.
Leigh Broxham – 6: Made a series of rash challenges and was lucky to still be on the field with a foul just outside the box early in the second half. He did provide the cross for the opening goal with a clever overlapping run, however.
Carl Valeri – 7.5: The rock in the midfield for Victory did very well to shut down Aaron Mooy and nullify his ability to play the ball and provide creativity for City.
Mark Milligan – 7.5: In tandem with Valeri, gave the City midfielders very little time on the ball and was quick to launch attacks when in possession.
Guilherme Finkler – 6.5: A quiet night but delivered some dangerous balls into the box from set pieces.
Fahid Ben Khalfallah – 7: Got behind the City defence on multiple occasions and delivered the pinpoint cross for Barbarouses goal.
Besart Berisha – 7.5: Signed by Melbourne Victory as their marquee due to his big game status, Berisha delivered with the opening goal. Played deep in attack and was a constant threat, it was his header that was parried onto the post and into the feet of Thompson for the third goal.
Kosta Barbarouses – 8: A man of the match performance by Barbarouses, tormenting the City full-backs throughout the game. He scored a sensational volley from inside the 18 yard box with a world class finish.
Substitutes
Jason Geria – 5: Came on in the 69th minute for Leigh Broxham and was rarely troubled at right-back.
Archie Thompson – 5.5: Introduced in the 78th minute for Ben Khalfallah and scored the third goal to the home fans’ delight.
Rashid Mahazi – N/A: Replaced Delpierre very late.
Melbourne City
Tando Velaphi – 5.5: Nervous early but was solid the rest of the night. Was left exposed by his defenders for the three goals he conceded.
Kew Jaliens – 5.5: Looked out of position at right-back but did contribute to the City attack with some industrious running and dangerous long throws.
Connor Chapman – 5: Struggled with his positioning throughout the night as was the case for the first goal.
Patrick Kisnorbo – 5: Had two clear-cut chances to score but poor finishing let him down. Was solid in the air to negate the majority of the Victory crosses but was found marking space during the first two goals.
Jonathan Germano – 5: Struggled to contain the threat of Barbarouses, but did force a quality save from Thomas at the end of the first half.
Erik Paartalu – 5.5: Worked hard to suppress Finkler’s influence and put in a workmanlike performance.
Aaron Mooy – 5: Struggled to find the space and spent a lot of time in possession deep in midfield. Blazed over the bar when the ball fell to him inside the box during the first half and was substituted in the 50th minute due to injury.
Robert Koren – 4.5: Looks to be completely out of position in midfield and struggled to provide any impetus to City’s attack. Was missing for large periods of the game in what was a disappointing night for the Slovenian international.
David Williams – 3.5: Barely touched the ball in the 38 minutes he was on the field with his only contribution being a shot that sailed wide from inside 18 yards. He was substituted in the 38th with injury.
Joshua Kennedy – 5: Was energetic early, holding the ball up well and combining well with Harry Novillo. Faded as the game went on, mainly due to poor delivery from the City midfield. Had a good chance for goal with his head in the second half that sailed inches wide of the post.
Harry Novillo – 6: The most dangerous of the City players. Pressured the Victory defence on a number of occasions only to be let down by a poor pass or shot on goal. Found himself fouled a number of times and had a superb free kick acrobatically saved early in the second half. Another to suffer from the injury curse.
Substitutes
Mate Dugandzic – 4.5: Came on for the injured David Williams in the 39th minute and showed endeavor creating a couple of chances but struggled to get in behind the Victory full-backs.
Stefan Mauk – 3.5: Outclassed in midfield and was unable to provide any creativity for City when he came on to replace the injured Aaron Mooy in the 51st minute.
Paulo Retre – 3: Was brought on for the injured Harry Novillo in the 58th minute but scarcely troubled the Victory full-backs.
What are your thoughts? Let us know by dropping a comment below via our Facebook comment box. Make sure you follow us on Twitter @Outside90 and like us on Facebook.
