Melbourne Victory clinched the A-League minor premiership title and booked a place in next year’s Asian Champions League after Adelaide United only managed to beat Central Coast Mariners 1-0 at Bluetongue Stadium on Sunday.
Aurelio Vidmar’s men will now face Ernie Merrick’s Victory side in the major semi-final with Queensland Roar and the fourth-placed Mariners set to meet in the second semi-final.
First legs from both games will take place between February 6-8 with the draw to decide venues to take place on Monday morning.
It is only the second time Melbourne have booked a finals spot but the last time they reached this stage, in 2007, they won the grand final after destroying Adelaide 6-0 at Telstra Dome.
Socceroos striker Archie Thompson grabbed five of the six goals that day and he was on target again on Friday night as the Victory ended Wellington Phoenix’s finals hopes with an unconvincing 2-0 win.
Despite being under the pump for most of the second half, Thompson struck late to add to Kevin Muscat’s first-half penalty.
Brazilian Cristiano grabbed the late winner for Adelaide against the Mariners to grab second spot for his side by virtue of having less goals than Melbourne.
Adelaide needed two goals against the Mariners to win the minor premiership and head into the finals on the back of a marathon season which has seen them reach the Asian Champions League final and play three games in the World Club Championship.
Queensland Roar, who will be looking to make up for last year’s preliminary final disappointment, go into the business end of the season as the form team.
Frank Farina’s side have lost just twice since round 11 in November and beat Perth Glory 4-2 in an absorbing encounter at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday.
In Sergio van Dijk the Roar have a striker in red-hot form and former Socceroos supremo Farina said he is happy with his side’s state of mind.
“Our last number of games here we have come home strong and not let too many things affect our mental or physical attitude,” Farina said.
“When you’ve got the pace that we have and big Sergio (van Dijk), who is in fantastic form at the moment, it’s going to be a problem for any team.
“As long as we can maintain that over the next month or so, we are going to have a good shot.”
The Central Coast have plenty of finals experience, having appeared in two of the last three grand finals but they have hit a terrible run of form which has seen them taste defeat in their last three games.
The loss of Mile Jedinak to Turkey has hit them hard and they will need to find their form quickly if they are to end their wait for an A-League crown.
In the weekend’s other game, Sydney FC ended their poor season on a winning note with a 4-0 win over bottom club Newcastle Jets at Sydney Football Stadium.
NUFCMVFC
Guest
Agree that it should be referred to as "Premiership" Football is a bit different, whereas in AFL or NRL there is a strong emphasis on the Grand Final and you can probably get away with it, in football the team that finished top of the table is usually the measure of champion so in that respect it means that top place after the home and away season means a lot more and the Title should reflect that I also think the players should get Premiership medals for the achievement as well Plus be awarded the title on the day they win it, would have to make a few replicas up and have all the matches on the final day of the season all played at the same time
mahony
Guest
Just saw the typo in my earlier post (the first of many). It is so refreshing not to have a string of people correcting my spelling and sprouting terms like ROFLCOPTER, KUTGW, and OMG - rather than responding to my points. I could get used to this forum???????
jimbo
Guest
mahony, agree that "Minor premiership" is incorrect Ian. This is the premiership and the Premiership Plate and a spot in the ACL are the prizes. The grand final is a separate prize. Congratulations MV, another PP and another spot in the ACL. If they make the home GF, could be played at the MCG, as the TD is booked for an AFL game on that day. Would be a great spectacle for the game if we get a big crowd, even if the G is not the best venue to watch a football match.
Dave
Guest
Well said mahony A grittier performance than 2 years ago but no less satisfying...ACL here we come. Now for AU in the finals...
mahony
Guest
There is nothing "minor" about the A-League Premiership. I know it is un-Australian not to add the word "minor" *fends off long winded emails about the Australian way* - but the competition organizers, football fans around the words and the Premiers Plate engravers make it clear. Melbourne has just won the A-league Premiership for a second time in 4 years. Go Victory!