- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
One side wants to continue their fairytale recovery, the other wants to keep their trophy. Melbourne Heart host the Central Coast Mariners at AAMI Park today. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 2:00pm AEDT.
In their previous match-up 11 rounds ago, these teams played out a 0-0 draw in Gosford – a result which extended Heart’s winless streak to 18 games.
In the following round, Heart lost 3-0 to Perth and were officially the joke of Australian football by equalling the A-League record of 19 games without a win.
That was ten rounds ago, and a lot can change in ten rounds of football.
Since then, Melbourne Heart have become the A-League’s richest club through Manchester City’s takeover and have lifted themselves off the bottom of the ladder, with only one loss in their last nine games.
Interim coach John Van’t Schip was rewarded for this great mid-season turnaround with a three-year contract this week but he was too focused on this match to celebrate.
His team have dared to dream of finals football, which was why last week’s 2-2 draw with ten-man Wellington Phoenix was such a disappointment.
Heart need a win, anything less and their finals hopes are over. Expect key players David Williams and Orlando Engelaar to be at their best for the Heart in this vital clash, while Harry Kewell could impact off the bench.
But do not expect the Central Coast Mariners to let the Heart win this one for the sake of a sporting fairy tale. They will be challenging for the three points to protect their own finals spot and maintain their hopes of retaining the championship.
But it will be difficult for the Mariners considering their busy schedule of Asian Champions League matches and their lack of squad depth.
The Mariners return from a tough midweek clash in Beijing, where they were unfortunate to lose 2-1 to Beijing Guoan in front of a hostile Chinese crowd of over 30,000.
Tensions boiled over in that game just before halftime, when both teams engaged in a bit of push-and-shove and Mariners defender Eddy Bosnar was right in the thick of it.
Expect Bosnar to also be in the thick of today’s game, with his strong tackling and thunderous free kicks – one of which he scored from halfway in the first 42 seconds of the Mariners’ 3-1 win over Newcastle in the F3 derby last week.
The Heart will be all out for the win to keep their faint finals hopes, alive while the Mariners are out to break hearts.
Definitely a must-watch.
Prediction: Heart 2 Mariners 0.
Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 2:00pm AEDT.
Are you the ultimate team manager? Pick your own superstar team and go head to head with other football fans for glory and cash prizes on Draftstars. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.