Melbourne Victory’s creative duo Besart Berisha and Gui Finkler have shown great promise in a 3-0 friendly win over Perth Glory.
Berisha scored two goals at AAMI Park on Sunday, with Finkler providing the opener.
Albanian forward Berisha, playing as the focal point in Victory’s attack, pleased coach Kevin Muscat in the side’s first hit-out against A-League opposition of the pre-season.
“Once we were in that front four, we did look dangerous,” he said.
On 35 minutes, Brazilian Finkler scored the first with a deflected free kick.
Finker turned provider for Victory’s second, jinking neatly before setting up Berisha to fire home after 70 minutes.
Five minutes later, Archie Thompson was brought down by Glory goalkeeper Danny Vukovic, allowing Berisha to score his second from the penalty spot.
Victory weren’t without their uncomfortable moments as Perth took contol for long periods of the second half.
Glory played a 4-1-3-2 formation with new signings Youssof Hersi, Richard Garcia and Mitch Nichols sitting behind a front two of Irish international Andy Keogh and Chris Harold.
Coach Kenny Lowe saw enough from his side to be pleased but said he might be tempted to head back into the transfer market for another striker.
“I thought the performance was OK, it was certainly closer than the scoreline indicated,” he said.
“We’ve got one spot left, the marquee position. Whether we fill that or not, I don’t know, I’m certainly trying to fill it.”
Muscat said he had one eye on bringing other players in but wouldn’t be doing it for the numbers.
“We’ll only do that if it’s going to improve the squad and improve the team.”
In Sunday’s other A-League friendly, Central Coast Mariners drew 1-1 with Melbourne City in Lismore.
Rob Wielaert opened the scoring for City in the 56th minutes before Malick Mane equalised from the spot a minute later.
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
Mathew Leckie played a pivotal part in Melbourne City claiming an 8-nil win; playing a role in several of his team's goals.
The loser of the Sydney Derby will be under immense pressure entering the final three matches of the season.
Anthony Caceres is a player with immense talent and has a fantastic work rate, broke the deadlock against the Mariners in the 74th minute.
Plenty of Aussies impressed in the final week of March, showing their talents off abroad and in their backyard. Here's the best XI of…
Round 19 was an interesting weekend of football with no draws, 19 goals in six matches, two five-goal games on Sunday and for the…
Round 17 was full of interesting contests and plenty of controversy. The highlight of the weekend was a five-goal thriller between the Perth Glory…
