Rediscovering the smell of Victory
Defensive steel, sizzling attack
FROM wooden spooners to top of the league after two rounds, Melbourne Victory is starting to rise again.
Although it may still be early days, maximum points from two games has slowly helped clear the doom and gloom that has surrounded Victory for the best part of two seasons.
While Melbourne’s spring sunshine provided the picturesque backdrop to the onfield action, it was Victory who were just as glorious from start to finish – blowing Brisbane Roar out of the water 3-0.
Not only are the positive results returning, so is the buzz surrounding Tony Popovic’s side, who were buoyed by a bumper crowd in their first game back at home.
It may not have been a full house inside AAMI Park but the 13,026 in attendance certainly made it feel like it was.
From the second Melbourne stepped on to the field for the pre-game warm-up until the celebrations after the full-time whistle, Victory’s passionate faithful were in full voice – welcoming their new coach and host of new signings in the best way possible.
“We embraced the fact we are at home and have fans again,” Popovic said.
“Certainly, any player that’s playing in front of fans (it) does lift them. It was great to see people here supporting us.”
Despite missing off-season arrivals Roderick Miranda and Chris Ikonomidis, Melbourne was on the front foot from the word go, showcasing a new defensive steel and proving equally devastating going forward.
Moments after Kai Trewin nodded the ball into his own net, Victory blitzed its way through the Roar defence, doubling its lead thanks to a Nick D’Agostino tap-in, before Ben Folami rounded out the scoring just after halftime with a looping header.
Although Warren Moon was able to turn the tide after halftime last week and almost snatch a point, here he was unable to muster a similar turnaround as his side failed to breach Victory’s resolute backline – meaning Brisbane heads home without a single point to start the season.
RAPID-FIRE START
IT’S been a long time since Melbourne Victory had a start to the season like this.
In fact, it’s been over 15 years since Victory won its opening two games, stretching back to the 2006-07 season, when it took home silverware for the first time in the club’s history.
While the wins standout, the best example of Popovic’s impact has been on the defensive front as Victory kept its first back-to-back clean sheets since December 2018 – while also becoming the first A-League Men’s side to score 700 league goals.
FEW MINUTES TO FORGET
FAIR to say, Trewin won’t be in a rush to watch back the first half.
The Roar defender had an awful few minutes, earning a yellow card for a foul on D’Agostino before putting an inch-perfect header into his own net to open the scoring for the Victory.
It was the second time Trewin had scored a header at that end of the ground in just over a week, having nodded one home against Melbourne City last Friday.
The issue being that none has actually counted for Brisbane, as last week’s was ruled off-side.