Whilst in the end it was of little consequence it must be said that some of the decisions by the linesmen in last nights 1-1 draw with Jeju United were truly perplexing. In light of the inability to actually understand the offside rule I thought I would let John Cleese explain it for them.
Last night saw the dawning of a new era for Melbourne Victory with Mehmet Durakovic becoming only the second manager to be in charge of the club during its relatively short history albeit only in a caretaker role. However, the changing of the guard did little to change our fortunes in Asia as we again lost, this time 2-1 to Jeju United. Not that there were many people there to actually see it take place.
The loss was a familiar tale, with a goal conceded from a set piece and the other late on. Although to be fair to our opponents they were the better side on the night and probably deserved to take all three points and thus condemning to an uphill battle to get out of the group stages of the competition for the first time in our history.
Considering that he had little more than three days in the job it was always going to be difficult for Durakovic to actually have any impact on our playing style or tactics. He did however give Isaka Cernak his first game for the Victory and the former North Queensland Fury player did more than enough to indicate that he will be a worthy addition to the team and with time his combinations with the likes of Archie Thompson will definitely improve.
Last night also saw a much slimmer looking Carlos Hernandez take to the field in the second half and unlike for most of last season his appearance on the field gave us the impetus in the midfield that we were lacking up until that stage. He came on as a replacement for fellow Costa Rican, Marvin Angulo but from my point of view it would be better for the team if both were out on the pitch together. I would have Tom Pondeljak make way for both of them to take their place in the Victory midfield.
Much of where it went wrong last night was when we actually got the possession we didn’t do that much with it. This was down to the fact that too often players were left isolated allowing two or three Jeju United players to quickly dispossess them and end any attacking foray. One prime example was when Danny Allsopp won the ball in midfield through his own industry and was then forced to head for the touchline because he was getting no support from his teammates.
Next up for the Victory is a visit to our sister city Tianjin to take on group leaders Tianjin Teda in what is now shaping up as a must win game. We of course have history with our opponents formerly meeting twice in what would appear to be the now defunct Lord Mayor’s Cup. Our last meeting resulted in a win on penalties. Let’s hope we can repeat that result come our next encounter.
I originally had penned this piece for Australian FourFourTwo, but due to the FFA’s wisdom in axing the North Queensland Fury it didn’t up getting up on the site on the day it was intended. And after last night’s debacle it really wasn’t worth putting up anyway but you can read it here anyway, remembering it was written before our first ACL. Enjoy. Sort of.
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Three’s a charm. Third time lucky. Two sayings that will hopefully apply to the one competition in which Melbourne Victory has not been unsuccessful - the Asian Champions League.
With a sixth A-League campaign out of the way our attention now turns to the ACL and after two campaigns that many including myself would consider failures, this third campaign provides them with an unequalled opportunity to really make their mark on the competition.
Looking back at our first foray into Asia, the one word that would describe would surely have to be naivety. Considering that it was their first time in such a competition and given the history of Australian teams’ initial forays into Asia it is hardly surprising. Despite it being the best game I have seen the Victory involved in, the 4-3 loss to eventual champions Gamba Osaka highlighted that aforementioned naivety.
Second time around the combination of trying to participate in a finals campaign at the same time as the initial stages of the ACL proved all too much for an injury riddled Victory side. It basically ended before it actually got off the ground and was an effort that we as fans would rather forget. Apart from the efforts of Mitchell Langerak it was a campaign of few memories.
This time there are no excuses. There are no major injuries to key players. There isn’t a final campaign to provide a distraction of the mental and physical kind. We are now experienced in the ways of Asia so that is another excuses that can also be discarded. This time it’s all about grabbing the opportunity that we worked so hard for last year. It’s time to get the monkey off the back.
This ACL campaign also provides an equalled opportunity to send off our inaugural captain off in the style that he so richly deserves. Nobody embodies Melbourne Victory like Kevin Muscat and getting out of the group stage for the first time would be the ideal way to send him off in style. Gamba Osaka aside, both Jeju United and Tianjin Teda are both teams against which the Victory can readily compete and of the two Australian teams it is definitely the easier group. If you can really say such a thing.
It is also important to show that we have learnt from our past experiences because at the moment our ACL efforts are the only blot on Ernie Merrick’s copybook. A blot that we need to erase.
Welcome to Victory In Melbourne’s minute by minute analysis of Melbourne Victory’s last match of its ill-fated 2010 ACL campaign against Seongnam Ilhwa. All the action kickoffs at 8:00pm AEST and we will be keeping you up-to-date with all that happens on the pitch.
Note: This page does not automatically update so you are going have to keep hitting that refresh button like mad to keep abreast of what’s going on.
Whilst you are watching the game or following this minute by minute feel free to pass on your comments as the action unfolds, by either of two methods:
1) By emailing neiljzimmerman@gmail.com
2) Or tweeting Victory In Melbourne
A debut for Ferreira. Langerak (gk), Muscat (c), Broxham, Brebner, Pondeljak, Hernandez, Foschini, Ward, Leijer, Angulo and Ferreira.
For the Koreans. Sungryong (gk), Jaesung, Ognenovski, Byungkuk, Kwangjin, Fabricio, Sunghwan, Do, Chul, Jaechol, Hackyong
0 mins: And we’re off.
2 mins: Seongnam has its first opportunity of the night with Langerak smartly off his line to deny Jo Jaecheol. After his little twitter outburst his failed transfer to Borussia Dortmund I thought Langerak would have missed out of this one but looks like I was wrong.
6 mins: Robbie Slater seems to think Kevin Muscat will go around for another season. That’ll surely piss off a lot of opposition supporters. As for the game not much happening at the moment although Seongnam is looking the more dangerous at this early stage.
12 mins: Have got to say that the Victory blue ACL is rather impressive looking, a lot better than this effort.
17 mins: Langerak makes a great save to deny Hackykong from distance. Muscat follows up by giving away a free kick in a dangerous position. Fortunately for the Victory they manage to clear the ball. Seongnam dominating possession at the moment with Melbourne looking to hit on the counter and not having any sustained amount of pressure. Playing without a recognised striker probably means its going to be a night of limited chances for Melbourne.
20 mins: Do wastes a golden opportunity to score as Langerak is left stranded in no-mans land. This is quickly followed by an effort from Fabricio that also flashes wide. Melbourne looking vulnerable from some well taken crosses.
22 mins: We’ve gone two whole minutes without Robbie Slater pushing the case of Sasa Ognenovski for the national team. That’s an effort in itself.
26 mins: Langerak makes another save to deny Fabricio at his near post.. From the resulting corner Ognenovski hits the upright which surely have Slater going into raptures about the big Macedonian. Looks like Langerak is going to be in for another busy night.
28 mins: GOAL! Seongnam opens the scoring as Kwangjin ghosts in at the back post as the Melbourne defence is found guilt of ball watching. You could see that goal coming as the Victory failed to deal with constant pressure of Seongnam. Foschini, who I have rated as one of the bright lights to come out of this campaign is having a torrid evening as the Korean side look to mount all their attacks along his side of the pitch.
36 mins: Angulo has Melbourne first real chance to test the Sungryong in the Seongnam but in the end his indecision means it comes to nothing.
I have lost visual transmission at the moment and can’t actually see what is going on with all I have to work with is the sound of the commentary.
45+1 mins: At that’s half time. Melbourne looking like a team that would rather be at home curled up in front of the fire reading a good book rather than running around in the rain in Korea.
46 mins: GOAL! I walk away from the coverage for a couple of minutes and Dugandzic finds the back of the net to start off the second half. Melbourne’s first goal from open play for this campaign. Looks like both Pilkington and Dugandzic have come on at half time.
48 mins: Langerak makes another great save to deny Fabricio from a long range free kick. Despite that effort Melbourne is looking
51 mins: So close! Dugandzic wastes a golden opportunity to put Melbourne into the lead as he spurns a one on one chance with the Seongnam ‘keeper. Melbourne certainly looking a lot better since his introduction. With Dugandzic’s efforts in his brief time on the park so far would have many Melbourne Victory fans wondering why he wasn’t brought on against Beijing Guoan two weeks ago when we still had a slim chance of progressing.
61 mins: The game is starting to open up a lot more as the Victory look to attack more in this second half making for a much more enjoyable footballing spectacle despite the rain. Is this the opportunity for Melbourne’s first win away from home in the ACL?
64 mins: Evan Berger comes on for Marvin Angulo. Is this the last time we will see Angulo in Victory colours as his loan spell comes to an end in the very near future (that’s my way of saying I don’t when it ends at this very moment).
73 mins: GOAL! Do (that’s his name) makes Melbourne pay again for some poor marking in the penalty area. Do was put through by a lovely back heel by Fabricio after Ferreira gave the ball away cheaply close to goal. All Melbourne’s hard work comes to nothing.
78 mins: GOAL! Scores are level again as Pondeljak finishes nicely from just outside the area. I really should stop walking away from the coverage.
83 mins: GOAL! Jaecheol puts Seongnam back in front as he brilliant chips Langerak from just outside the area as he makes a well timed run onto a flick-on from his teammate. Again the Victory defence fails to react quickly enough to the threat. Does Melbourne have enough time to level it again?
87 mins: Football Superstar wastes a golden opportunity to level the scores as his free header at the back post fails to the find the target after Ferreira puts in a delightful cross. Is this a sign of the future for the Victory?
90+3 mins: There goes the final whistle and thus ends Melbourne’s 2010 campaign. Despite the loss it was probably Melbourne’s best performance of the campaign.
Welcome to Victory In Melbourne’s minute by minute analysis of Melbourne Victory’s must win clash of their 2010 Asian Champions League campaign against Kawasaki Frontale at the Todoroki Athletics Stadium in Kanagawa. All the action kickoffs at 9:00pm AEST and we will be keeping you up-to-date with all that happens on the ptich. Whilst you are waiting for it all to happen you might as well check out what we know about Kawasaki Frontale here.
Note: This page does not automatically update so you are going have to keep hitting that refresh button like mad to keep abreast of what’s going on.
Whilst you are watching the game or following this minute by minute feel free to pass on your comments as the action unfolds, by either of two methods:
1) By emailing neiljzimmerman@gmail.com
2) Or tweeting Victory In Melbourne
1:18pm: Here at Victory In Melbourne we are not holding out too much hope of taking three points from this considering that the team will find it difficult to back up from Saturday’s efforts combined with the loss of key man, Archie Thompson. However, Mike Tuckerman over at The Roar thinks there may be cause for some optimisim.
8:59pm: How the hell does Nick Ward get a start over Marvin Angulo? He has been ordinary for at least the last month and should have been confined to the bench.
Moss gets a rare start in the Victory starting lineup and Muscat is on the bench. Starting XI: Moss (gk), Sukha, Broxham, Brebner, Mrdja, Vargas, Hernandez, Berger, Kruse, Ward, Leijer (c).
Kawasaki Starting XI: Aizawa (gk), Kawashima, Ito, Igawa, Tasaka, Kurotsu, Komiyama, Tae Se, Mori, Inamoto, Taniguchi, Renato Carlos.
3 mins: GOAL! Kawasaki’s first forward run results in a goal as the “Asian Wayne Rooney” Jong Tae Se puts one past Glen Moss at his near post. Not the ideal way to start a must win game. Melbourne under a lot of pressure at the moment.
8 mins: Almost another goal to the team from Kanagawa as Yuseke Tasaka sends a shot just wide of Moss’ left hand post. Melbourne yet to launch any reasonable attack at the moment.
11 mins: GOAL! A brilliant headed goal from Masaru Kurotsu after he gets on the end of mis-kicked free kick sees Kawasaki Frontale double their lead. This has all the hallmarks of turning really ugly. Moss is probably wishing he had stayed on the bench. His last start for the Victory saw him concede four goals and now two in eleven minutes.
15 mins: Melbourne obviously not used to playing on such a good surface. Even with the rain it plays at least 100 times better than Docklands Stadium and the SFS.
18 mins: Mrdja earns a free kick from dead in front for which Carlos Hernandez to work his magic. Unfortunately the magic is lacking as he sends it straight into the wall.
19 mins: Melbourne are getting absolutely killed down the right hand flank. Really shows how much we miss Matthew Kemp, who was probably our best player in our previos ACL campaign.
23 mins: GOAL! Renato Carlos is given an absolute paddock of space and duly makes the Victory with an well taken shot from distance given Glenn Moss no chance at all. I may have to stop this analysis if it gets too bad. Melbourne definitely looking like a team that played two hours of football only 72 hours ago.
26 mins: Dare I say we need Muscat just to sort the defence out.
30 mins: This referee is obviously from the Matthew Breeze school of refereeing. Hand out lots of cards and hand them out often. Three already in the first thirty minutes. Moss currently looking for a shovel to dig himself a hole so he can hide from this onslaught.
32 mins: From Kevin Muscat’s twitter alter ego “Seriously, if we just fucked off home at half-time, do you think any cunt would actually fucken notice? Fuck me dead…”
33 mins: Things get a little heated as Leijer and the Asian Wayne Rooney (hope that nickname isn’t based on his looks alone - although I guess it’s better than being called the Asian Carlos Tevez) come together after a rather errant Nick Ward tackle. Yellow cards for the both. First time the card count has exceeded the goal count for the game.
35 mins: Thirty-five minutes in and Melbourne yet to get a shot on target, or any shot whatsoever. However the A-League website begs to differ. Maybe they are feeling a little sorry for us.
38 mins: Robbie Slater just labelled this the worst performance by an Australian team in the ACL. Those 5-0 thrashing of Central Coast by Kawasaki (must love playing Australian teams) and the 6-0 thumping of Newcastle by Pohang Steelers would have to come close.
43 mins: Lo and behold Melbourne gets its first shot on goal as Vargas goes wide with a header.
44 mins: Can we stop with the quickly taken freekicks and concentrate on maintaining some sort of possession. Just get a decent ball in there for FFS.
45+3 mins: Referee Ghamdi hands out a red card to the Asian Wayne Rooney for god knows what. This guy is making Matthew Breeze looking like Pierluigi Collina at the moment. And you wonder why there isn’t any Asian referees at the World Cup.
45+4 mins: The referee finally puts Melbourne out of its first half misery. Will the red card give Melbourne a chance to grab a point? I severely doubt it.
53 mins: Sting really has gone out of game for the time being. Melbourne looking to minimise the damage at the moment. Lawrie McKinna via twitter: “The 1 positive thing from our trip to kawasaki was there were 4 starbucks within 100 m from our hotel.” Maybe Melbourne could have done with a few visits to wake them up before this match.
55 mins: Evan Berger makes way for Matthew Foschini, after Berger has got the run around for most of the night.
56 mins: A time for celebration. Our first corner as Angulo comes on for Robbie Kruse. Really should have started this one. Nick Ward at the back post heads the resulting corner well over the crossbar.
62 mins: Melbourne getting a bit more of the possession at the moment but still not creating any real chances of note. I wonder how many will turn out next week after this performance. Lucky to crack 15,000 I reckon.
63 mins: Renato Carlos goes down in the penalty area under a challenge for Sukha. Nothing coming from the referee with the Brazilian’s effort one that Alex Brosque would be proud of.
65 mins: Nick Ward must have been watching old school Brett Emerton video tapes in recent times as he has been pulling out the back pass a lot, all of them to little or no effect. As I said earlier, should never have started on the pitch.
69 mins: Melbourne creates its best chance of the night as a nice Carlos Hernandez slices open the Kawasaki defence. Unfortunately Mrdja can’t get on the end of it. Come on, we have to score at least one.
74 mins: Angulo has made a real difference since his introduction. Don’t know why we can’t start him in matches now as I think the ACL would really suit him. About sixteen minutes until our latest ACL campaign unofficially comes to an end before it really started.
77 mins: Is Nick Ward the most frustrating player out there at the moment? I think Melbourne fans have just found themselves a new boo boy to replace Danny Allsopp and Matthew Kemp.
78 mins: Glenn Moss makes his first save of the night and a pretty good one at that to deny a deflected shot.
80 mins: Dugandzic comes on for Ward as Melbourne makes it’s third and final substitution. And almost makes an immediate impact.
83 mins: Melbourne playing their best football of the night at the moment. A pity it’s too little too late and against a team that is 3-0 up and has been playing with ten men for almost a half.
90+1 mins: GOAL! Tanaguchi makes its four for Kawasaki as Melbourne is caught napping in the final minutes of the match. For Moss’ second consecutive game between the sticks he has picked the ball out of his net four times, although to be fair he hasn’t really been at fault for any of them.
90+2 mins: Second yellow for Broxham for remonstrating with his Kawasaki opponent sees him have a slightly early shower. A stupid action that will see him miss next week’s return leg in Melbourne or maybe he just wanted the week off.
90+3 mins: The referees whistle brings to an end any chance Melbourne has of progressing out of the group stages of the ACL. This was a campaign that never really got started as the Victory decided to concentrate on both the A-League and the ACL and unfortunately came up short in both. Kawasaki really caught Melbourne on the hop in the opening 21 minutes as they made the most of the lethargic start from the Victory, who were probably still thinking of Saturday night. Now, we have the gloating of the Adelaide supporters to look forward to, especially if they themselves make it out of their group. Need I remind them, that we will be in the ACL next year and they won’t be as you can’t qualify from bottom of the ladder. It’s petty but I don’t have much else to keep my spirits up at the moment.
After the crushing disappointment that was Saturday night (for my thoughts on the night you can read my latest 442 blog), it is now time for the Melbourne Victory boys to pick themselves up for the all-important match against fellow ACL strugglers, Kawasaki Frontale. With both teams on zero points after two games, it a must win game for the two teams, as a loss will pretty much put an end to any hopes of progressing to the next stage of the competition.
Being that I know even less about the team from Japan than I do about Beijing Guoan and Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma it was again time to ask Mike Tuckerman, regular The Roar and FourFourTwo contributor and Australian Football Weekly’s Asian football expert the questions to which we all want answers.
What style of play can we expect?
Some free-flowing, attacking football.Kawasaki are one of the most attack-minded sides in Asian football, thanks in part to the midfield promptings of playmaker Kengo Nakamura.Up front a strike force of North Korean international Chong Tese and Brazilians Juninho and Renatinho has seen Kawasaki finish top scorers for the past four J. League seasons in a row, and as we saw when Frontale beat Central Coast Mariners 5-0 in Gosford, they’re capable of scoring from all over the pitch.Frontale are less than watertight at the back though, and they have a tendency to crack under pressure, so it remains to be seen how they might perform should they go a goal down.
Who are the dangermen?
Kawasaki have got them all over the pitch.Kengo Nakamura is capable of splitting open a game with his incisive passing and accurate set pieces, while fellow attacking midfielder Vitor Junior should return after missing much of last season through injury.They’ve also drafted in much-travelled Japan international Junichi Inamoto, while Chong Tese is sometimes referred to as “the Asian Wayne Rooney,” and the bullocking North Korean striker is about as destructive a player as it gets.
Where do you think Melbourne has the advantage?
In the physical department. Kawasaki’s bustling strike force generally takes some stopping, but the likes of Kevin Muscat, Rody Vargas and Grant Brebner could give Victory the edge.
How did Kawasaki qualify?
By finishing second in the J. League. With three games to go, Kawasaki travelled to bottom club Oita Trinita knowing that a win would almost certainly wrap up their first ever J. League title. Instead they lost 1-0 and opened the door to Kashima Antlers, who eventually went on to win their third straight Japanese crown. The crushing disappointment was too much for coach Takashi Sekizuka, who stepped down during the off-season to be replaced by Tsutomu Takahata – a coach who took charge of Kawasaki on an interim basis in 2008.
So after the euphoria of making it to a second successive Grand Final, of which I will talk about at a later date, it is again time to turn our attention to the Asian Champions League and Tuesday night’s clash against Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma. It is a must win game as the Victory look to keep in touch with the rest of the group.
Being that I know even less about the team from Korea than I do about Beijing Guoan it was again time to ask Mike Tuckerman, regular The World Game and FourFourTwo contributor and Australian Football Weekly’s Asian football expert the questions to which we all want answers.
What style of play can we expect?
In the past, a fairly direct style – however the addition of instrumental Colombian playmaker Maurico Molina means that they now play more to feet than they used to. Nevertheless there will still be plenty of long balls forward from Sasa Ognenovski to giant striker Dzenan Radoncic, the latter of whom has been around the Asian scene for several years now.
Who are the dangermen?
Striker Namkung Do was part of the Pohang squad that won last year’s Asian Champions League, while Brazilian midfielder Fabrizio Sousa is an experienced campaigner at this level. On the whole though, Seongnam are not quite as laden with talent as they once were, so they will rely heavily on talisman Molina in the midfield.
Where do you think Melbourne has the advantage?
Compared to their group rivals, Seongnam don’t necessarily possess the most experienced of squads, so Victory’s veterans could come to the fore – particularly at home.
How did they qualify?
Seongnam finished the regular season in fourth, before embarking on a gruelling finals campaign.They saw off Incheon United on penalties, before following up with narrow 1-0 wins at home to Chunnam Dragons and away at Pohang Steelers, with Mauricio Molina scoring both goals.Their run ended in the championship playoff, where they lost 3-1 on aggregate to Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors after the first leg had ended scoreless.
How are they faring in the K-League?
Seongnam kicked off the latest K-League in style with a 3-0 win over Gangwon FC on the opening weekend with the aforementioned Molina getting on the scoreboard with a brace and Brazilian Fabricio Souza scoring the other. They enjoyed a bye before this clash but a tougher task awaits in their Round 3 clash with Incheon United, but overall Seongnam may be expected to concentrate on the Champions League over the early weeks of the season.
Welcome to Victory In Melbourne’s minute by minute analysis of Melbourne Victory’s first clash of their 2010 Asian Champions League campaign against Beijing Guoan at the Beijing Workers Stadium, Beijing. All the action kickoffs at 10:30pm AEST and we will be keeping you up-to-date as to when Joel Griffiths cops his first kick or whether the orange ball will be needed because it’s snowing and everything in between. Whilst you are waiting for it all to happen you might as well check out what we know about Beijing Guoan here.
(Note: This page does not automatically update so you are going have to keep hitting that refresh button to see what’s going on.)
0 mins: And we have kick-off. Melbourne starting with an unchanged line-up from Thursday wins against Sydney. As for Beijing, only one Griffiths gets a start with Ryan on the bench.
Melbourne starting XI: Langerak (gk), Muscat (c), Sukha, Broxham, Brebner, Vargas, Pondeljak, Hernandez, Ward, Leijer and Mrdja.
Beijing starting XI: Hao Wu, Ting Zhou, Darko Matic, Liang Xu, Valdo, Xiangchuang Yan, Xy Yunlong (c), Yang Zhi (gk), Yifan Zhu, Joel Griffiths and Maurice Ross
4 mins: Have to say I don’t mind the Victory away strip. Can’t say the same thing for the Beijing strip as those numbers are really hard to read.
9 mins: Pretty cagey start so far. Neither team really having any clear cut chances. Only stat that is getting a workout at the moment is the foul count with neither keeper having work to do apart form the odd goal kick. Valdo and Hernandez getting a bit of heavy treatment from their respective opponents.
12 mins: First foul on Joel Griffiths goes to Sukha. Griffiths at his whinging best asks for a yellow card but the referee is not forthcoming.
Play has stopped for the moment as the referee has appeared copped a laser in the eye from the home supporters and his having a bit of trouble with his eyesight.
18 mins: Some nervous moments in the penalty area as Vargas has some issues with Valdo after Muscat failed to clear a cross. Muscat recovers to restrict any further danger.
24 mins: Melbourne finally get their first corner of the match. Picks out an unmarked Muscat who sidefoots wide of the mark and that brings up Melbourne’s first attempt on goal. Melbourne playing too many long balls at the moment for my liking. We need to get Hernandez, Pondeljak, Ward and Co. into the play more.
27 mins: Pondeljak forces a great save out Yang Zhi from about 30 yards. The resulting corner comes to nothing. Melbourne’s first shot on target. They way Pondeljak shots reminds me of the way I shoot in futsal, all about placement and not so much about power. His last shot being the exception.
30 mins: Hernandez shakes off three defenders to get a shot off. Unfortunately, for the Victory his shot went wide.
32 mins: Yellow card for Sukha for tug of Xiangchuang Yan’s shirt.
35 mins: Beijing effort cleared off the line by Sukha. At first glance it looked it was behind the line but replays confirmed that the clearance was okay. Victory also managed to block Ross’ follow up shot.
38 mins: Yifan Zhu puts a shot just wide of the mark with Langerak beaten. Just as I was saying Melbourne was getting back into the game Beijing have created a number of good chances. For Melbourne, Sukha is walking a fine line at the moment. Needs to relax a little by my reckoning as he is throwing himself into tackles, Leigh Broxham style.
41 mins: Langerak pulls off a brilliant save to deny Valdo after being set up by Joel Griffiths.
42 mins: Nik Mrdja fails to get a shot off as he is through on goal from a brilliant little chip from Nick Ward. Maurice Ross shepherds him off the ball nicely. I bet Ernie Merrick is hoping that half time can’t come quickly enough as Beijing are starting to dominate at the moment. That pesky Joel Griffiths being particularly dangerous.
45 mins + 3: And there goes Albadwawi Madhad Saif’s whistle for half time. After a slow start from both team, Beijing has looked pretty dangerous in the last fifteen minutes or so of the half with the combination of Griffiths and Valdo. being particular dangerous. Melbourne needs to impose its midfield more on the game as at the moment they aren’t seeing much of the ball at the moment.
46 mins: Surat Sukha makes way for Evan Berger at the start of the second half.
49 mins: Brenton Speed makes a very bad pun using one of the Beijing player’s name.
50 mins: Valdo gets the better of Rodrigo Vargas with his shot hitting the side netting after appearing to come off the leg of Muscat. Home fans get a little excited thinking they had opened the scoring. Melbourne get the goal kick though.
52 mins: Joe Griffiths opens the scoring for Beijing as he beats Langerak from close range. Griffiths continues his love affair of scoring against Melbourne. 1-0 to Beijing. Looks like he got a little help from a Vargas deflection.
54 mins: Langerak makes another great save to deny a long range Beijing free kick. The home side well on top at the moment.
58 mins: Looks like Matthew Foschini is going to get a run. Wonder who he is going to replace. Wouldn’t mind seeing Angulo getting a run.
60 mins: Foschini replaces Berger. Must have picked up some injury in an earlier challenge. Can’t see any other reason for his subsitution.
64 mins: Pondeljak blazes well over the bar from inside the penalty area after some excellent build up play from the Victory. They need to be careful to be caught on the break as they look for the equaliser.
65 mins: Muscat’s power of influence extends to Asian referees as gets Valdo booked for a rather soft foul. Referee also gives Huang Bowen a yellow for what appears to be a wardrobe malfunction.
68 mins: Langerak out quickly to deny Griffiths as Beijing again looking dangerous. Valdo definitely proving to be a handful for the Melbourne defence as he holding up the ball well.
74 mins: Pondeljak looking the most dangerous of the Melbourne midfielders as he somehow gets a corner. The resulting corner comes to nothing as Muscat header at the back post is cleared easily.
76mins: Both Liang Xu and Leijer go down in a fifty-fifty clash where both players missed the ball completely. Liang Xu had both studs up as he flew in for the tackle although to be fair Leijer’s effort wasn’t much better. Both players get up with the pitch appearing to come off the worse for wear as both players took a couple of divots.
79 mins: Melbourne Victory having a lot more of the possession at the moment as they press for an equaliser. Not creating many clear cut chances though. Are they leaving their run a little too late. Now would be an opportune to give Angulo a run.
82 mins: I get my wish as Broxham makes way for our second Costa Rican.
85 mins: Muscat puts a heavy challenge in on Joel Griffiths just for old times sake as Melbourne have an extended period of attacking. Unfortunately, it didn’t come to anything.
87 mins: Hernandez scuffs a shot inside the penalty area. Is Merrick’s pre-game prediction of fast finish about to come true? Not long after Mrdja gets on in the end of a near post header but it goes well wide.
89 mins: Melbourne spurn a brilliant chance to equalise after some brilliant interplay between Pondeljak and Ward. Unfortunately, Pondeljak’s cross failed to find a Melbourne body around the penalty spot. Best chance of the game so far which is saying something when it happens in the 89th minute.
90 +3 mins: The referee blows the whistle for full time with Melbourne’s second Asian Champions League campaign not getting off to the most auspicious of starts as they go down 1-0 to Chinese champions Beijing Guoan. Again it proved to be the Victory’s nemises, Joel Griffiths, who was the difference with a well taken goal. Melbourne will need to bounce back in the next match against Seongnam Ilhwa at Etihad Stadium in a couple of weeks to ensure any chance of progression from this group after this early setback.
Being that Melbourne is playing Beijing Guoan on Tuesday night I thought it would be an opportune time to find out some information about our opponents. However, being that my knowledge of Beijing Guoan is limited to it being the current club side of the Griffiths brothers (Joel and Ryan) and that they play in Beijing, I thought would be probably best to ask someone who knows much more about them. Therefore I asked Mike Tuckerman, regular The World Game and FourFourTwo contributor and Australian Football Weekly’s Asian football expert the questions to which we all want answers.
What style of play can we expect?
Beijing are a side that aren’t afraid to employ a physical style to get the better of their opponents. In Bosnian defensive midfielder Darko Matic they possess a steadying influence in the centre of the park, allowing the likes of Yang Xianchuang and Huang Bowen to push further forward. They’re also a cosmopolitan club, with Scottish defender Maurice Ross joining new Brazilian signing Valdo and of course Australian duo Ryan and Joel Griffiths in the squad.
Who are the dangermen?
Aside from the Griffiths brothers – who each scored eight league goals for Beijing last season – Brazilian striker Valdo also scored plenty of goals for relegated Hangzhou Greentown, so he could be something of an X-factor up front. Huang Bowen is likewise a handy presence in midfield, while skipper Xu Yunlong is the mainstay of the defence.
Where do you think Melbourne has the advantage?
This is Beijing’s third straight appearance in the Champions League. Having fallen at the group stage in their past two outings, Melbourne may have the psychological edge over a Guoan side under pressure to end China’s wretched run in Asia’s premier club competition.
How did they qualify?
By winning their first ever Chinese Super League title on the final day of the season. Beijing went into the final game of the season level on points with Henan Construction, but a 4-0 thumping of Hangzhou Greentown in front of more than 60,000 fans saw the capital club finish a point ahead of fast finishers Changchun Yatai.
How are they faring in the Super League?
The Super League hasn’t kicked off – and may not any time soon – with ongoing investigations into widespread match fixing meaning that the scheduled March 20 kick-off is tentative at best.
That hasn’t stopped Beijing from getting into shape, as Guoan started their pre-season training on February 5. Unfortunately a wild brawl in a friendly with defending Asian champions Pohang Steelers disrupted their focus somewhat, so Hong Yuanshou’s side will be itching to kick off competitive action in the Champions League.
