Melbourne Victory striker Archie Thompson pinched a winner deep in injury-time to secure a pulsating 2-1 A-League derby triumph over crosstown rivals Melbourne Heart at AAMI Park on Saturday night.
Thompson netted via the crossbar two minutes into injury time to snatch all three points and sink the Heart, who had grabbed an equaliser just minutes earlier.
The win lifts the Victory to third place and leaves the Heart third from bottom.
The Victory took the lead with Marco Rojas’ 67th-minute goal – a wonderfully-worked move sweeping through Thompson, Gui Finkler and Mark Milligan before the New Zealander finished sweetly.
But the Heart looked to have earned a share of the points when skipper Fred, who had missed his side’s two best chances of the match earlier, leapt high to meet a superb Michael Marrone cross and finish.
Then the Heart lost possession in the middle of the park in injury time.
Rojas grabbed the ball and sent a slide-rule pass to Thompson, whose shot hit the crossbar and crept just inside before Heart defender Aziz Behich thumped it out in vain.
With more than 26,000 watching on, it was a first half of desperate defence – four shots blocked, cleared off the line or deflected to safety in a spirited opening 45 minutes.
Fred had the Heart’s two best chances, squandering a first-half opportunity on 32 minutes when he shot dreadfully from Behich’s superb run to the byline and cross.
But he went within a coat of paint of a spectacular goal six minutes after halftime, controlling then thumping a wonderful long-range volley just wide of the top corner.
Heart attacker David Williams, who had terrorised the Victory defence all night, then could have won the game for his side five minutes from time with a thundering volley.
But Victory goalkeeper Nathan Coe made a superb diving save.
Williams then gave away possession for the move which led to Thompson’s winner.
Heart coach John Aloisi lamented his side’s lack of cutting edge having had the better chances in the match, but felt his team at least deserved a draw, if not all three points.
“We were the team that was trying to go for the win, and we lost the ball in a bad area and they caught us on the counter,” Aloisi said.
“We felt we could go on and win the game. They showed really good character and spirit.
“They (the players) are distraught. But we’ve got a game in a few days against Wellington and we’ve got to pick ourselves up and get on with it.”
The Heart will go into the match without central defenders Simon Colosimo and Patrick Gerhardt, who both picked up yellow cards to exceed their limit and earn automatic one-match bans.
Victory assistant coach Kevin Muscat – deputising post-match for coach Ange Postecoglou, who left immediately after the game because of a family bereavement – felt his side had done enough to deserve the points.
“I thought we showed great belief and we controlled the game for long periods,” Muscat said.
hawker
Guest
perfect tackle - correct call
Nathan of Perth
Roar Rookie
Dunno, I remember some of those first few games and Traore seemed to be terribly out of position on a few occasions! Can't argue with his form at the moment though
mahonjt
Guest
We won a lot of matches this way under Ernie Merrick also - people forget that.
mahonjt
Guest
Yep - I went home to look again on the 'freeze fam' on the IQ. Have definately seen them given. While the defenders leg was completely wrapped around the striker's. Only question was - was he still in contril of the ball IMO.
mahonjt
Guest
TO be frank - he has been hat good all year. No many noticed untill now - but I (and many others) sw it from the pre-season. Simply brilliant (cap him).
mahonjt
Guest
Excellent point about the security. The media handling of the flares was good in Melbourne too. Just a few side mentions in the context of a entraling match report. Let the fans get on trying to self-police, and failing that - let the coppers arrest those who bring and/or ignite flares. I love them - but they are illegal. Equaly so, the illegal actions of a few should not detract from the excellent contribution of the overwhelimg majority. The Melbourne media chose not to attack the football community on this ocassion - I hope they continue this policy as their coverage contributes to the psycology of the average flare user also.
jbinnie
Guest
Sorry Nathan,my mistake I was looking at the wrong column,it was CCM that pulled the 16,000 against Syd in their home game & on my charts Perth are the next team ,but the figure you rightfully quote,14,000 against Roar,still posed the question,where was that held, but you answered that,Thanks. I wasn't being smart just wanting to add to my knowledge Cheers for the season &,--sorry again about the error. jb
Stevo
Guest
I wouldn't say it was out of their hats tho :) Today has been kind of a strange feeling. Sorta yeah played 1000% better than against the Marinators but geez am I hating Archie. Willo put in a really good shift for us but has the problem of dispossessing himself of the ball, all by himself sometimes, causing unnecessary turn overs. And so it came to pass and the rest is history. A fantastic night at the ground which will live long in the memory.
Nathan of Perth
Roar Rookie
We haven't played Sydney/ADP at home yet - we pulled 14k to the season opener against Brisbane, which was played at Subiaco Oval (in a nifty set up) because we knew we would get more than 9,500 easy. Fwiw, you have to remember the context of last season. Another false dawn,a seventh year of apparently going no where, followed by a miracle run that people were slow in recognising.
jbinnie
Guest
Nathan - I should say that I am aware of the fact that the ground is under re- construction and feel that with continued good performances Perth have the capability of passing the 10,000 average with some ease.I do note they pulled nearly 16000 to the Sydney/ADP game,was that played at anoher ground, and if so,why??? It should also be remembered that last season the club only averaged 8,300 to their 13 home games so hence my comment that there is still work to be done. Maybe a marquee like ADP????. yours jb.
Nathan of Perth
Roar Rookie
Only caught the second half, so cannot comment unfortunately :)
Nathan of Perth
Roar Rookie
It's up to 10,500 but the whole ground is still disrupted by being a construction site - it will look great upon completion but at the moment it's a dump. Has been a dump for quite some time, having the swanky new grandstand with facilities will be a great attraction. Perth Wildcats have shown what shiny new facilities can do for drawing power! But worth recognising, the current surviving sideline grandstand is very old and primarily given over to corporates. As a result, those of our members used to sitting near the halfway line have effectively no options. The seating view points on offer are uniformly very poor. So more than just the reduced capacity, it is also a factor of where the capacity has been reduced. Once we have the option for people to have good seats with views, we'll see some more people come along. The Shed and the FOTS are chock-a-block of course.
AVictory
Guest
Glory are hampered by NIB stadium, it's capacity is only at 9,500!
AVictory
Guest
Glad you enjoyed yourself! ;) I know I sure did! I'm still buzzing from the natural high :D
AVictory
Guest
Heart should have conceded a penalty in the first 3 minutes and also copped a red card for denying a clear goal scoring opportunity, the referee was disgraceful all round.
Rusty0256
Roar Rookie
Yes that's true, but think back to the Ange-led Brisbane Roar; isn't that exactly what they used to do? Victory are now pushing like crazy right to the very end and any opposition team that takes it's foot off the pedal in the last 5 (or especially in extra time) is likely to get the same happening. And for the first timers present (I had 2 newbies with me last night) a thrilling last gasp winner is a sure fire way to win over new Victory supporters.
jbinnie
Guest
Fuss - No argument there but a word of warning .If,you are calculating revenue on the overall "average" gate figure for the HAL league in total &, then you must refer back to the huge differential in how each club benefits. Were you taking into consideration the "spread" of how that amount of revenue is being distributed for it could mean the "rich" are getting very much richer & the "poor" wery much poorer.The "spread" of gate numbers is still too great for long term comfort.Much as I hate to think about it we could have a Man.U /Man City--------QPR/Reading situation being created & I would like our league to stay away from that model if it is at all possible.All the best again for the season jb
Nathan of Perth
Guest
That's a couple last minute smash and grabs that Victory have pulled out of their hats!
Nathan of Perth
Guest
Traore had a night out, didn't he? Really stepped up today. Agree on Leijer deserving a red - for that challenge and probably should have taken a second caution for dissent.
Ballymore
Guest
Brilliant theatre. Thought MHT deserved a point. The play acting from both teams in the 1st half annoyed me to tears. Thought Leijer deserved a red (two feet, air). I thought Williams was best on ground. Traore (cap him) should be credited with the assist for the winner. Quality interception. It is common for hotels and airlines to oversell/overbook their services. I wonder if the this should be done for future Melbourne derbies at AAMI - particularly for the general admission areas. I say that because was around 2000-3000 empty seats. Lost revenue no, but overselling allows for even more. Makes the broadcast even better. This was my first ever Melb derby and I must say the MV ultras were outstanding. The volume, colour and flares were brilliant. So was the 'pitch invasion' and the fact they were still singing 20 minutes after full time. Perhaps the derby was part of the reason for AP's exit from BNE? -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.