Victory in Melbourne 

Welcome to Victory In Melbourne’s minute by minute analysis of Melbourne Victory’s first match of its 2010/11 A-League campaign against SydneyFC. 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
3) Or leave a comment below

7:18pm: Aren’t we all a little sick of seeing Melbourne Victory play Sydney FC with this being the fifth time in a row that the two teams have met each other. Without a recognised striker after Kruse was a late omission (not that you could really class him as a striker in all honesty) it will be interesting to see how Ernie Merrick sets out the team.

7:44pm: Today is Kevin Muscat’s 37th birthday and he’ll sure to be wishing to expunge the memories of the last time that these two met.

Victory staring XI: Petkovic (gk), Muscat (c), Dugandzic, Sukha, Broxham, Brebner, Vargas, Pondeljak, Hernandez, Berger, Leijer

The other team: Reddy(gk), Ryall, Keller, Foxe, Musialik, Carle, Brosque, McFlynn(c), Bridge, Jamieson, Byun

0 min: And we’re off. Oh great, we have Matthew Breeze in charge which should make things interesting.

4 mins: After a fairly cagey opening on what looks like a pretty poor surface (a combination of the weather and the egg-ball code one would think) Hayden Fox heads over the crossbar from a Scott Jamieson cross. Melbourne will surely need to defend better at set pieces than they did at that one. Seeing that Melbourne is playing without a recognised striker (surely there is someone on the youth team) Hernandez, Pondeljak and Dugandzic are playing as a front three. Don’t really like this tactic as it robs Melbourne of Hernandez’s creativity in the midfield.

8 mins: Byun still probably thinking about that penalty last season dwells on the ball too long and allows Dugandzic to steal and force him to concede a corner. It appears that Vargas’ shaved head has confused the Sydney FC supporters (which doesn’t take much) as they booed his hopeful long ball thinking that it was Muscat who had hit the long ball.

14 mins: Does the start of this season remind you much of the Victory’s first season. Back in that season they started their campaign away to Sydney and followed that with a first home game against Perth Glory at Olympic Park. Fast forward to this season and Melbourne is playing away to Sydney and following that up with their first home game at the new AAMI Park. Back to more footballing matters, Dugandzic is creating a heap of problems for the Sydney defence. On two occasions he has made it to the byline and pulled the ball back. Unfortunately for the Victory, no one has been there to finish off his good work. Melbourne looking much more composed than their opposition at the moment.

20 mins: An update for Jesse Fink and all those other Nick Carle lovers out there. The player of Uruguayan and Chilean descent and that ill-fated rabone has been rarely sighted so far apart from a decent cross that again found Hayden Foxe unmarked. Once again the redhead defender put it wide of the mark.

30 mins: Not much to report in the last ten minutes or so with much of the play taking place in the middle  of the park. Neither team is really imposing themselves on this one.

35 mins: Petkovic in his first official game in Victory colours is quickly off his line to deny the serial diver as the ball is delightfully chipped into his path. And who says I can’t pay those boys in baby blue a compliment. Moments later, Carle picks up the first yellow for the game. Good to see that his time in England hasn’t improved his tackling at all.

36 mins: Goal. A horrendous error from the birthday boy sees Sydney pinch a goal as the Melbourne Victory defender has pocket picked by Bridge only metres out from goal in a monumental brain fade. It’s a simple finish from Brosque to put the Sydneysiders a goal up. Sydney fans obviously loving the irony of the moment but I’m not.

45 mins: And there goes the half time whistle. Considering that Melbourne a playing without a traditional striker it was all going rather well until that Muscat cock up which gifted Sydney a goal. With Celeski, Ward and Angulo on the bench I really can’t see Merrick taking a backward but we really need that striker Geoff Lord was talking about earlier this week.

46 mins: Second half kicks off with Melbourne needing to create some goal scoring chances to put the pressure on their baby blue opponents. No changes at the half for either team. It will be interesting to see what the crowd figure will be tonight considering the other codes that have been in action in Sydney today. Via the television coverage it’s pretty difficult to really to ascertain what the crowd is.

53 mins: Goal. Another defensive error and another goal for Sydney. This time it’s Berger’s failure to clear with a header that allows McFlynn to loop his own header over a despairing Petkovic. During the Sydney celebrations, Billy Celeski comes on for Surat Sukha. It’s good to see him back.

58 mins: That is an extremely soft yellow card to Vargas as he tangles with Alex Brosque, with the serial diver making the most of the slightest of contact from the Victory defender. Resulting free kick crashes into the wall.

61 mins: I really wish Simon Hill would stop referring to this match as ‘The Big Blue’. It is rather a lame name for a clash that will be soon be demoted to our second spot in terms of hated rivals. Is there even the need for a name for a clash between teams from two different cities. It’s not like Manchester and Liverpool have a name for their matches.

65 mins: GOOAAALLLLLL!!!!!! Broxham pulls one back for the Victory with a clumsy looking finish as headed the ball onto his foot and into the goal. Coincidentall

67 mins: GOAAALLLLLL!!! Who says we a striker as Dugandzic brings the Victory back on level terms as he gets on the end of a Pondeljak cross to shut The Cove right up. Shortly after Muscat almost contrives to gift Sydney another goal but Bridge somehow manages to find the knees of Petkovic with the goal at his mercy. The game certainly has liven up as Pondeljak is winding back the clock and exposing Byun’s lack of defensive accountability.

71 mins: In all that excitement I forgot to mention the crowd of 12,106 which is not much better than the crowd pulled by that other Melbourne team on a Thursday.

73 mins: GOAAALLLLL!!!! Celeski puts Melbourne ahead with an easy tap-in after some brilliant lead up play from Mate Dugandzic who in combination with Pondeljak have turned this game on its head. I thought for a moment there that the young winger had wasted the opportunity but showed brilliant composure to take out three defenders and set up Celeski. Sydney looking extremely shellshocked by this turn of events.

79 mins: The mood in this house has just gone up a notch. It wasn’t looking that good fifteen minutes ago but now with a little over ten minutes to go we now need the boys to hold onto the game. Not long after Melbourne’s third goal a voice could be heard from the stands directed at Hayden Foxe questioning his defensive abilities: “Thats what you get paid for!”

87 mins: I lose coverage for a minute or two there as somehow Sydney pulls a goal back. Not sure exactly what happened there apart from Shannon Cole grabbing the equaliser possible due to a Petkovic error.

90 mins: Three minutes of stoppage time coincides with the irony of Brosque complaining about Broxham going rather too easily under a challenge. Mr Pot meet Mr Kettle.

90+3 mins: Sydney almost grab a late winner as Vargas clears a goal bound effort from the goal line and then Brebner uses his posterior to deny Carle a winning goal on his Sydney debut.

90+4 mins: And thus it ends 3-3 in what was a scintillating second half. Muscat absolutely fuming after the match as he questions the free kick that resulted in Sydney’s third goal. My apologies to Michael Petkovic for the third goal as it was a well taken free kick rather than a ‘keeping error. I know a tipped a draw for this one and would have been happy with that result at the start of the game but when we were 3-2 up a win against all odds would have been great.

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.

In my latest blog for 442 I cheekily put at the end that I wished that we could play Adelaide United every week. The main reason being that we can’t seem to lose against them at the moment but one must also note that we have put on probably two of our best performances so far this season when we have played them. The highlight being the performances of Mate Dugandzic and guest player Sutee Suksomkit.

Next week sees the Victory take on Perth Glory, a team against we which struggle, particularly out west. They are coming two losses and will be looking to bounce back. Here’s hoping we can continue our excellent recent form, but who knows in this topsy-turvy league.

On a slightly different note I was also asked recently who would be in my all-time Melbourne Victory starting XI and here it is:

Theoklitos
Kemp - Vargas - Muscat - Leijer
Celeski
Kitzbichler - Hernandez - Fred
Thompson - Allsopp

Let me know what you think?

It was always going to be interesting to see how the Victory would bounce back after last week’s humiliation at the hands of Sydney, particularly against traditional bogey team (if there can be such a thing), Newcastle. And for forty-five minutes it looked like we were going to be in for a repeat of last week’s performance. Fortunately, Merrick saw the light and replaced Ney Fabiano with Mate Dugandzic and switched to a back three, having almost instant impact. There was also the small matter of Carlos Hernandez playing an absolutely blinding second half and being involved in all three of our goals. My 442 readership is probably getting sick of me harping on about Hernandez, so I gave it a miss and wrote about everything bar the Costa Rican in my latest blog that you can read here. Also if you missed the match, you can get all the highlights from my minute-by-minute analysis of the match.

Welcome to Victory In Melbourne’s first ever minute by minute analysis of a Melbourne Victory match as they take on the Newcastle Jets at Energy Australia Stadium.

Brebner in for Broxham and Pondeljak in for Kruse. Moss (gk), Sukha, Vargas, Muscat (c), Leijer, Kemp, Brebner, Carlos, Ney Fabiano, Pondeljak, Thompson.

Boo-boy Ljubo out for the Jets. Kennedy (gk), Topor-Stanley, Song, Thompson (c), Elrich, Bridges, Kantarovski, Vignarolli, Patafta, Haliti.

4 min: Great save by Moss from former Melbourne old boy, Patafta followed quickly by a yellow card for Thompson for a foul on Hernandez. Ben Williams stamps his authority early on.

7 min: Close call for the Victory as confusion reigns in the penalty box. Fortunately the offside flag was up.

8min: Hernandez has Melbourne’s first shot on goal. Well wide of the mark. Good to hear the Melbourne fans in full voice.

11min: Yellow card for Kemp for a robust challenge on Song.

12min: Brebner gives away a free kick in a dangerous position, fouling Vignarolli. Free kick straight into the wall.

18 min: Mark Bosnich in commentary continues to state the bleeding obvious.

22 min: GOAL! Haliti scores for the Jets. Put through by a brilliant through ball by Elrich. Extremely soft goal. Haliti sure likes to score against the Victory. 1-0 to the Jets.

27 min: Newcastle goal ruled out for offside. Moss caught well out of position. Melbourne defence again looking very shaky. After dominating the early stages, Melbourne now on the back foot.

32 min: Kemp thwarts a promising move for the Victory with a bad first touch.

36 min: Melbourne again lucky to be only 1-0 down as they scramble the ball away for a corner.

42 min: Ljubo spotted in the crowd with a blonde. Very reminiscent of his year at the Victory.

45 min: Now that Ben Kennedy has got himself a contract extension maybe he can afford to get himself a decent haircut.

45+1 min: Yellow card for Brebner for a cynical foul on Vignarolli.

45+2 min: And Ben Williams blows his whistle for the end of the first half. After what was a promising start for the Victory, Newcastle dominated the remainder of the half. Melbourne’s defence has been looking at sixes and sevens for the second week in a row and will need to improve in the second half if Melbourne is to get back into this one as Newcastle look dangerous every time they go into attack. In contrast, Melbourne has rarely threatened the Newcastle defence.

Melbourne make their move. Ney Fabiano off for Mate Dugandzic. Melbourne definitely looking for a more mobile attack to test the Jets defence. Hopefully it has the same effect as it did against Adelaide a few weeks back. Melbourne switching to a 3-5-2 formation.

45 min: Second half underway.

49 min: Thompson shoots over the crossbar after some good lead up play from Dugandzic. First decent attempt for the match.

55 min: Free kick to Melbourne right on the edge of the penalty box. Extremely close to being a penalty. Hernandez’s free kick goes straight into the wall. Things looking a lot more promising for the Victory in the second half.

59 min: Patafta off for Ali Abbas.

62 min: GOALLLLLLLLLLLL! to the Victory. Archie Thompson brilliantly lobs Kennedy after getting onto a great long ball from Hernandez. 1-1.

65 min: Moss pulls off a fantastic save to deny Haliti. Looked like a handball by Bridges there in the earlier play.

66 min: Broxham on for Sukha and almost straight away gives away a penalty for a handball of his own from the resulting corner. Fortunately for the Victory, both the referee and linesman failed to spot it.

72 min: Broxham hits the side netting looking to score from the impossible angle. Just as Melbourne were looking much more assured at the back, Haliti hits the crossbar with header.

74 min: Handbags at ten paces between Bridges and Leijer. Bridges somehow gets the free kick. Abbas goes near post and fails to put Moss under pressure.

78 min: Yellow card for D’Appuzzo for a foul on Brebner.

80 min: GOALLLLLLLLLLLL! Pondeljak gets on the end of a rebound after a long range effort from Hernandez comes crashing back off the crossbar after beating Kennedy to put Melbourne ahead 2-1.

81 min: Moments after scoring, Pondeljak comes off limping to be replaced by Nathan Elasi making his A-League debut. Not his first game for the Victory as he did make some appearances during our first ACL campaign.

84 min: GOALLLLLLLLLLLL! Hernandez makes it three for the Victory after tucking one between the legs of Kennedy. Hernandez has been on fire in this second half being involved in all three Melbourne goals.

90 min: Crowd figure of 6,029. Where have all the Newcastle fans gone? It’s not like their team plays shit football.

90+4 min: And Ben Williams blows the final whistle and Melbourne comes away with a 3-1 victory over their bogey team. Nice way to bounce back from last week’s disappointing loss against Sydney. You would have to say the introduction of Mate Dugandzic for the second half was an inspired substitution from Ernie Merrick. The Victory attack looked much more potent in the second half with his presence. Here’s hoping that Merrick persists with the 3-5-2 formation against Adelaide next week.

Well you can’t accuse the Melbourne Victory hierachy of resting on their laurels. Only days after losing two key players earlier in the week, the Victory announced the signings of Brisbane Roar’s Robbie Kruse and promoted youth player Mate Dugandzic.

Kruse, who has a reputation for spending more time in the bars of Fortitude Valley than on the training pitch, is a surprise addition to the squad. Not a really a direct replacement for Allsopp but a handy acquisition nonetheless, as long as we can keep him away from King Street.

Dugandzic, on the other hand has caught the eye of a number of fans through his performances for the Melbourne Knights in the Victorian Premier League. He did spend a year with Dinamo Zagreb and by all accounts impressed with his performances whilst on loan at NK Lokomotiva Zagreb. A player for the future one would think, but definitely a chance of getting some game time this season.