Melbourne Victory coach Ernie Merrick says the unavailability of two quality strikers is hitting hard, after the club suffered a second straight big A-League defeat on Sunday.
The Victory were hammered 4-1 by Adelaide United at AAMI Park, their only goal coming to young substitute Mate Dugandzic with the game’s last kick.
The Reds, who had lost their previous 10 matches against Melbourne, controlled play almost from the outset, leading 1-0 at the break.
A stunning free kick from Adelaide striker Sergio Van Dijk 12 minutes into the second half started an onslaught, the powerful left-footer curling the 25m shot past the Victory wall, giving goalkeeper Michael Petkovic no chance.
Then came the send-off of Victory captain Kevin Muscat, handed his second yellow card when his swinging left arm found the head of Adelaide’s Adam Hughes.
Two more Adelaide goals quickly followed, including the 13th of the season for Van Dijk, the league’s top scorer.
Victory’s thrashing followed a similarly disappointing 2-0 loss to Wellington Phoenix four days earlier.
Merrick put the form slide down to the absence of Archie Thompson, expected to miss at least one more game with a hamstring strain, and fellow star frontman Robbie Kruse, who is with Australia’s Asian Cup squad in Qatar.
“It always looks like you’re looking for excuses, but there’s no doubt that players like Robbie Kruse, Archie Thompson, Surhat Sukha, Matthew Kemp make a big difference to your team,” Merrick said.
“But particularly strikers, because unless you score goals you never threaten a team.”
Merrick also questioned some of the refereeing, particularly the Muscat send-off.
“Kevin was told he elbowed the player in the face and obviously the video footage shows that he didn’t, so we’re not sure why he was sent off,” Merrick said, although replays clearly showed contact between Muscat’s arm and Hughes’ head.
Adelaide coach Rini Coolen said he admired Muscat’s aggressive approach, but felt it was the right call.
“He’s a fighting machine and he goes sometimes across the line,” Coolen said.
Reds skipper Travis Dodd said he did not get a clear view of the incident, but was not surprised at the send-off.
“I saw Hughesy go down and Muscat was near him so I put one and one together,” Dodd said.
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