139 matches of Hyundai A-League football culminated in a delectable grand final match-up with the end-of-season Premiers, Melbourne Victory being crowned as Champions following a fairly convincing 3-0 win over bitter rivals, Sydney FC.
Playing with the verve and tempo that saw them lift the Premiers Plate at the end of 27 rounds, the Victory were quickest out of the blocks and were rewarded when they took the lead in the 33rd minute.
Sydney attempted to hit-back, however. A rare, first-half opportunity presenting itself to the in-form Alex Brosque after a neat one-two with Marc Janko, but Victory shot-stopper Lawrence Thomas managed to deflect the ball away with his feet.
The second-half provided even less joy for the travelling fans. Despite their grandest efforts, Graham Arnold’s men struggled to fashion clear-cut opportunities the best of which fell to Janko. The Austrian marksmen found himself alone in the box, but his well-met header was always destined for Thomas’ open arms.
The game was effectively killed off in the 83rd minute when Kosta Barbarouses capitalised on a goalmouth scramble, before the bombarding Leigh Broxham finished coolly in the final minutes to spark celebrations of a third A-League Championship for the foundation club.
Besart Berisha – one for the big occasions
Four years in the Hyundai A-League has brought Besart Berisha a quite astonishing, three Championship medals. In each of these medal-winning occassions, the former Roar-man has had a telling impact on the match and Sunday’s final proved once more that he is one for the big occasion.
Berisha’s dogged, aggressive attitude was clear from the outset when he charged into the Sydney half straight from kick-off and earned his side a free-kick. Closing down the Sky Blue back four all match long, the Albanian’s best moment came in the 33rd minute.
Following a fortunate couple of bounces between himself and Gui FInkler, Berisha took the ball eloquently on the half-volley turning inside out and fired an unstoppable strike into the far corner to send Etihad Stadium into raptures.
The goal was Berisha’s fourth in A-League Grand Final’s and set his side up perfectly for a deserved double.
Dimitrejivic suffocated
Milos Dimitrejivic claimed a sweep of Sydney FC’s private awards night not three weeks ago and for good reason. The Serbian maestro had been a continual season-long influence in the middle of the park with his consistent passing complimented by incredible vision and at times a blatant refusal to lose the ball.
However, on Sunday afternoon, the Sky Blue No.8 was suffocated by a buoyant and aggressive Victory midfield. With Berisha harrying Sydney’s centre-backs, much of the ball coming into the usually-dominative midfielder led to turnovers in possession and a subsequent lack of control over the match.
Dimitrejivic managed to complete just 69% of his passes on the night, compared to the season-long average of 87%, it becomes easy to see how Sydney struggled to gain a foothold in the match.
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Muscat’s troops repay the faith
While much of the Championship-winning side picked itself, coach Kevin Muscat was open about potential selection dilemmas coming into the match. Most notably was the right-side of the starting XI where Leigh Broxham and Kosta Barbarouses faced stiff competition from Jason Geria and veteran goalscorer Archie Thompson, respectively.
Despite starting in their semi final rout of cross-town rivals, Melbourne City – Muscat would have toyed with the thoughts of replacing Broxham with more of a natural right-back in Geria and swapping the enigmatic Barbarouses for the tried and tested, Thompson.
In a vote of faith though, Muscat went with the two men who helped grant his side a Grand Final berth and was repaid in the most valuable form of footballing currency, goals. Barbarouses was a constant live-wire for the Victory and Broxham was solid as ever at right fullback but both managed to net important, Championship-clinching goals.
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