After a lacklustre first round the A-League sprang into action this weekend, the frenetic action and 19 goals scored drawing comparisons to the English Premier League.
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Melbourne Victory’s 4-2 win over Wellington today put them on top of the ladder, equal on four points with Sydney FC and Adelaide, who played a 1-1 draw with Queensland Roar in Brisbane.
The excitement began on Friday night when defending premiers Newcastle snatched a thrilling 3-3 draw in Perth against the Glory, through a 94th minute strike by Joel Griffiths.
While disappointed with the result, Glory coach David Mitchell rated the 58th minute goal to to his Ivory Coast striker Eugene Dadi as a highlight.
“The way it was played it was one-touch football, it was free-flowing and it was exciting,” Mitchell said.
“It was a great finish, I think you see that in the Premier League. It was a great advert for the A-League tonight and hopefully the fans saw that.”
The near-11,000 crowd at Gosford had plenty to entertain them on Saturday, when the Central Coast and Sydney FC played the latest chapter in what is developing as the league’s greatest rivalry.
Despite being a man down after Stuart Musialik became a victim of Football Federation Australia’s crackdown on player dissent, FC earned a 3-2 win through a wonderful penalty kick by Shannon Cole.
Coach John Kosmina said it was “fun” to watch his strike force in action against the Mariners.
“It was fantastic, the one touch football we played and little angles and triangles we created in the first half in particular, it was great to watch,” he said.
But Kosmina now faces a selection headache his contemporaries could only dream about – how to fit Socceroos hero John Aloisi into his team.
Aloisi is a possibility of returning for Sunday’s home match with Perth after missing the opening weeks with a foot injury, and Kosmina insists he will have no trouble accommodating the 32-year-old.
“They’ve all got different strengths and weaknesses,” said Kosmina.
“Johnny is an out and out goalscorer as well. We could change our shape a bit.
“I think we need to be versatile. You look at different teams, and you play them different ways.”
For the Mariners, Fallen Socceroo, Manchester United and Chelsea star Mark Bosnich will play his first professional game in seven years when they face the Queensland Roar next Sunday.
His selection is likely with Danny Vukovic serving a five week suspension as part of his ban for manhandling the referee in last season’s grand final.
In Brisbane, the surprise appearance of skipper Craig Moore was not enough to earn the Roar a win tonight, despite dominating possession.
Moore wasn’t named in the side through injury, but took part in the warm-up and played the full 90 minutes.
Wellington made a disappointing start to a season that looked promising, following up a round one draw with a poor defensive display to lose 4-2 to the Victory in today’s early match.
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