The Roar's A-League Men tips and predictions: Round 26 - the jostle for finals positions is on in earnest
Here is the way the Roar expert panel sees all the action unfolding across the final weekend of play prior to the semi-finals.
The Melbourne Victory have eased their way into the FFA Cup round of 16 with a comfortable 2-0 win over Western Australia’s Bayswater City at the WA Athletics Stadium on Wednesday night.
The Victory signalled their intentions by fielding a strong team for their FFA Cup opener against a Bayswater City team currently leading WA’s National Premier League, and they also took the chance to unveil their attacking trio of Besart Berisha, Kosta Barbarouses and Archie Thompson.
That trio led to a first half goal to Barbarouses on the back of a final pass coming from Berisha before the Victory then secured the win when Thompson added the second in the 77th minute after being set up tremendously again by Berisha.
It was a competitive showing from Bayswater who are coached by former A-League defender Chris Coyne and featuring some talent in the squad including Todd Howarth, Sam Mitchinson, Devon Spence and Steve Burton.
Despite not being able to match the 4-0 scoreline that the Brisbane Roar beat the Stirling Lions with at the same venue at Tuesday night, it was a dominant showing in the first half from the Victory and then a solid effort in the second.
Gui Finkler and Berisha both created good opportunities to score in the opening 22 minutes for the Victory before their constant attacking forays paid off with a well-worked goal to Barbarouses as they broke down the Bayswater defence.
Mark Milligan was one star who didn’t start for the Victory but he came on as a substitute for Leigh Broxham in the 59th minute and got some good run into his legs.
It was a much-improved effort from Bayswater in the second half and they were within inches of drawing level through a well-taken free-kick from Howarth that was narrowly wide 70 minutes in.
However, the Victory managed to hit back on the counterattack with Berisha passing off to Thompson in the box who then had no trouble scoring to guarantee the win.
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Here is the way the Roar expert panel sees all the action unfolding across the final weekend of play prior to the semi-finals.
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