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The Premier’s Plate is Melbourne Victory’s to lose after moving three points clear on top of the A-League ladder with Wednesday night’s 2-1 win over Brisbane.
With two rounds remaining, Victory have finally eked out some breathing space at the summit of the table after goals from Carl Valeri and Besart Berisha sealed the result in front of 10,642 fans at Suncorp Stadium.
Kevin Muscat’s men face the Roar again on Saturday night at the same venue and, with a superior goal difference over their title rivals, another win would all but seal the club’s fifth piece of major silverware – and a berth in the 2016 Asian Champions League.
Even without injured star Gui Finkler, the visitors were at their lethal best in attack and cut a lacklustre Brisbane outfit to pieces in a dominant first half.
Valeri opened the scoring in the 17th minute with a stunning low drive from 20 metres out that sizzled past the outstretched glove of Jamie Young.
Then five minutes later, Berisha marked his first appearance at Suncorp Stadium since moving to Melbourne in the best way possible.
Timing his run to perfection, he ghosted past the Roar’s rearguard to chest down a ball from the lively Fahid Ben Khalfallah, then lashed at it with his left foot to send it through Young’s legs and into the back of the net.
As promised, Berisha’s celebration against his former club was understated – but there was no denying what the goal meant for the striker and for the small contingent of travelling Victory fans nearby, who were sent into raptures.
Another ex-Brisbane player, Kosta Barbarouses, had the chance to make it 3-0 just minutes after the halftime break but the Kiwi’s attempt thudded into the left upright.
The home side, who suffered a pre-match blow when ace youngster Brandon Borrello injured his knee in the warm-up, enjoyed plenty of possession but were unable to make anything of it until Matt McKay’s goal in the 51st minute sparked them into action.
McKay was released into the box following a lovely one-two with Andrija Kaluderovic, although replays indicated the Serbian marksman was marginally offside at the time.
Brisbane’s captain made no mistake with his finish but the Victory proved hard to break down beyond that point and never looked likely to give up another goal.
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