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It finishes 3-all at Etihad and the Victory remain undefeated this season. Sydney creep back above Wellington who they face next week.
What a game! Plenty of talking points and you’d expect that Peter Green will come under scrutiny after missing some key moments, sadly the referring has had a big say in the result.
Sydney unable to convert the possession in the first half to goals and they paid dearly for it. Melbourne just keep finding ways to stay in goals and with a strikeforce like they have is it any wonder? Barbarouses showed some individual brilliance tonight and stood up not only Gersbach but also Grant.
FINAL SCORE:
Melbourne Victory 3
Sydney FC 3
Second-placed Melbourne Victory will be looking to maintain their unbeaten start to the season and stay in touch with league leaders Perth Glory when they take on fourth-placed Sydney FC in the Big Blue part deux for season 2014-15. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 7:30pm (AEDT).
Melbourne Victory remain the only undefeated team after nine rounds and the league’s most potent attack, having found the back of the net 21 times this season, will be further reinforced with the return of playmaker Gui Finkler.
Finkler, along with Besart Berisha, veteran Archie Thompson, Kosta Barbarouses and classy Tunisian Fahid Ben Khalfallah will have extra motivation to breach the Sydney defence as they are the only side that has managed to keep Kevin Muscat’s team scoreless this season.
Pint-sized ‘Mr Versatile’, Leigh Broxham, will continue at centre half in the absence of Frenchman Matthieu Delpierre, who continues to be hampered by a foot injury. Broxham, who looked like playing a supporting role to captain Mark Milligan and Carl Valeri in the Melbourne midfield, is showing some career-best form at centre half and Muscat will once again call on the man who has become an integral part to Victory’s undefeated start to the season.
If Broxham’s credentials as a centre half are ever going to be tested, it will be against the league’s tallest player, Austrian Marc Janko, who is expected to be rushed straight back into the starting 11 after recovering from an injury that kept him out of Sydney’s last-start loss to league leaders Perth Glory.
The loss last week was Sydney’s first for the season, and despite leaking two goals late against the Glory FC still have one of the best defensive records in the league, having only conceded seven goals this season.
In fact their strong start to the season has been built on the back of some solid defensive performances and with youngster Alex Gersbach getting better with every performance and Pedj Bojic beginning to find the form he displayed with the Mariners, Victory will be hard pressed to find the same space as they did against the Mariners.
Seb Ryall returns from suspension and looks likely to partner Nikola Petkovic in the heart of defence, while Terry Antonis will continue his telepathic-like partnership with Serbian midfield dynamo Milos Dimitrijevic.
Sydney FC have had nine days to prepare for this one, but with an undefeated start to the season on the line you can expect Victory’s star-studded attack won’t be as wasteful as they were when the two sides last met at Allianz Stadium in Round 6.
Expect fireworks on and off this pitch. Join The Roar from 7.30pm (AEDT) for live score updates and debate in our live blog.
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