In a fixture where tensions rise and heroes are made, two of the A-League’s fiercest rivals went head to head as the Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC played out a thrilling 3-3 draw in front of an intense crowd of 25,000 at Etihad Stadium.
In a clash not short of controversy and passion, this game not only met the expectations of footballing fans, but had supporters on both sides on the edge of their seats from start to finish.
The Melbourne Victory were hoping to continue their unbeaten run, despite the absences of star playmaker Gui Finkler and defender Daniel Georgevski, whereas Sydney FC welcomed the return of the inform Marc Janko and the return of Seb Ryall from suspension, who always rises to the occasion when playing his former side.
However, the battle between these two heavyweights had the veterans on both teams stealing the spotlight, in what was a thrilling contest where the old dogs showed that they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.
The match started in an intense fashion as the Melbourne Victory drew first blood after a gut busting run by Ben Khalfallah saw Besart Berisha’s shot saved by Vedran Janjetovic, setting up Archie Thompson perfectly in the 12th minute.
Going a goal down resulted in Sydney lifting their intensity, with the Sky Blues equalising five minutes later through Austrian captain Marc Janko. Shane Smeltz produced a great assist for Janko to find the back of the net in a composed fashion, despite claims of the goal having been offside.
However, the controversy did not stop there, as a collision saw Terry Antonis come off second best as he received an elbow to the temple from Victory captain Mark Milligan. Tensions rose among Sydney players and staff as Milligan was quite fortunate in not receiving a red card, with the referee Peter Green indicating that he did not see the incident.
Sydney FC continuously pressed, and a perfect lay off for striker Alex Brosque hit the woodwork, in what would have given Sydney the lead. Instead, it led to the Melbourne Victory again gaining the lead in the closing moments of the half as Archie Thompson struck a low ball into the bottom corner. Etihad Stadium erupted as the Victory went into half time with a 2-1 lead.
The second half commenced with Sydney being rewarded for their persistence. An unmarked Smeltz headed home a corner from Alex Gersbach and then Smeltz doubled his money through a well-placed goal. It was his 80th A-League goal and it gave Sydney FC the lead for the first time in the match as they looked to end the Victory’s unbeaten run.
However no Big Blue derby is never complete without some Archie Thompson magic. The 36-year-old completed his hat-trick, scoring his 84th A-League goal and his 34th against the Sky Blues, which led to a frantic finale as Victory striker Besart Berisha was denied a goal in the final moments of the match due to a great save by Janjetovic.
The result was one which left both managers scratching their heads as both would argue that their team deserved the three points. I’m sure all the fans would have enjoyed two of the league’s great strikers in Thompson and Smeltz turn it on in a high profile match.
The draw sees the Victory remain in second place, three points behind league leaders Perth. Sydney remain in fourth place with the Wellington Phoenix one point behind them in fifth, whom they play next week in what shapes up to be another thrilling contest for the Sky Blues.
Victory also face another challenging contest as they face cross town rivals Melbourne City in the pre-Christmas derby in what shapes up to another exciting round in the A-League.
Bondy
Guest
Jb I agree with your comments the goals were well constructed or thought out, the midfields looked to push the ball out to the flanks to create space drawing the centre halves out etc . You could tell also early in the second half there were more goals in the match the only disappointment would've come from the Gaffa's having three goals put past them . Was it Real Madrid esque ?, No but it will do .
j binnie
Guest
Fuss- Victory, or Archie, scored 3 very good goals last night and that is more goals than has been seen in most HAL games this season. Sydney did the same and though one was definately "suspect" the move leading up to it was good football. I have seen some entertaining games finish 0-0 but last night I got 6 good goals, a large and vocal crowd giving great atmosphere even electronically ,so ,short of a Messi or Ronaldo,an excellent evening of entertainment remembering we are not watching EPL,or Bundesliga. Sure the missing players could have made a difference but credit to the boys that stood in. Cheers jb
j binnie
Guest
Horto - Appreciate your viewpoint from the vantage point of a Victory fan but feel I have to expand on my question about the "Perfecr Game" so you can understand where I am coming from. First of all we have to differentiate between "attacking" (having possession) and "defending" (trying to regain the ball.) That leads us to examine what a player should be doing in both these game modes. From the kick-off a "perfect" move will result in a goal. That gives the ball immediately to the opposition who in turn will play the ball into a scoring position and score. This goes on unabated. Score? Who knows? Now if a team play a "perfect" defensive game how do they win possession from a team that is attacking "perfectly".?????? Are you starting to get the point that this theortical discussion is taking us to.??? There is no such a thing as a "perfect" game,so we have to expect mistakes to be made and it could even be argued that the team who make the least number of mistakes should emerge as the winner. Don't waste time arguing this point,I only use it to broaden your perspective on what is a good game and what is a bad game. Cheers jb
Horto Magiko
Guest
I hope you're right RBBA. (Although admittedly to me, and the boys I was watching with, he looked as guilty as sin).. I thought that if the ref sanctioned him on the spot, with a yellow for eg, then the MRP wouldn't be able to further rule on the incident.. But then again thinking back to the larocca/antonis incident I'm pretty sure larocca copped a red and then was hit with a further ban by the MRP.. So you're probably right.. One things for sure, the sky blues spilt blood for the cause last night.
TheVolley
Guest
Leijer and Milligan have been very lucky to stay on the field in the past few matches. Leijer in 2 matches for repeat professional fouls. A very good game for the neutrals.
RBBAnonymous
Guest
I dont think the MRP will give him anything, I could be wrong. I thought the MRP was for incidents that would be out of the ref's field of view and he didn't see it. The ref was looking right at the incident as it happened. Personally I would like Milligan to cop 2-3 weeks but I don't think he will. It was a pretty nasty challenge, looked like he mean't it as well.
RBBAnonymous
Guest
It was awesome to watch for the neutral, thoroughly entertaining.
Dave2136
Guest
Milligan's elbow was cocked. Germ.
Horto Magiko
Guest
@fussball Agree with all points you've made. It should also be mentioned somewhere that Janko's 1st goal was offside. But then Milligan was lucky to stay on the pitch..what now concerns me is how many weeks the MRP will give him..
Horto Magiko
Guest
Interesting perspective JB. Good to hear from a neutrals point of view and that you were thoroughly enamored as you put it. I, like fussball was emotionally invested in the outcome so, for me, it was like pulling teeth. Being unable to detach and enjoy the spectacle.. But he is technically correct in saying: "But, if we want to challenge for trophies we need: DelPierre, Galloway, Georgievski & Finkler in the Starting XI". Aside from breaking our personal goal scoring record this far into a campaign (I believe...Correct me if I'm wrong), victory have been tremendous in defense this season thus far, in comparison with last season, where we leaked goals for fun. Hence his mention of our 3 strongest defenders. Also, the absence of finkler was felt in that lack of extra creativity, composure and X factor in the center of the park. He's our broich so to speak. You could see it written all over Archie's face in the post game interview.. He didn't look like a man who had just earned the match ball.. It did almost feel like a loss for us.. The PERFECT game would've had berisha scoring that 90'+5'min attempt right on the final whistle ;)
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
jb When I returned home from the match, I was pleasantly surprised by the glowing post-match summation on social media. At the stadium, I truly thought MVFC were awful. There were static & not making proactive moves into space or giving their mates a better angle to receive the pass, they were reactionary & the passing was off. I was very impressed by SydFC last night. I haven't been impressed by them on TV, but they controlled possession in a way no other visiting team in Melbourne has this season. I'm thrilled that the general consensus was "thoroughly entertaining match". Maybe, after the 1st half in our previous match against AUFC, I set the standard too high.
j binnie
Guest
Fuss - Just have to answer your comment. This wasn't the best advert for football if you were looking for pure football (even Barcelona or Real Madrid make mistakes during a game) but to denigrate the entertainment value of the match just because of missing personnel I feel is a "step too far". I am a complete outsider to both teams,am a football purist at heart, but I was thoroughly enamoured by 90 minutes of all-out effort displayed by both teams. The summation at the end by the "experts" was laughable,"both coaches would be disappointed at conceding 3 goals". What rot!!! In my oft accused mindset of negativity both coaches should have been pleased to have scored 3 goals each, (6 goals in total), in a league that after 49 games is showing a goals scored per match average of 2.7 per game. So we come back to that age old discussion among football pundits "What should the score be in the "PERFECT" game, 0-0 or as many goals that can be scored in 90 minutes divided equally.?????? I'll leave you to ponder that answer. Your mate jb
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Worst performance by MVFC at home over 90' this season, although our 1st half in the MelbDerby was also pretty bad but, at least in that match, we turned it on in the 2nd half. Having said that, we scored 3 wonderfully worked goals against the team that previously had the meanest defence in the Aleague. But, if we want to challenge for trophies we need: DelPierre, Galloway, Georgievski & Finkler in the Starting XI. Last night's back 4 should be the reserves with Galloway-DelPierre-Ansell-Georgievski starting each week.
j binnie
Guest
This game was an excellent advert for HAL. The early goal helped of course and set a pattern of play that finished with both teams going at each other as if their very lives depended on the outcome.With the almost continuous end to end play the big crowd was being entertained almost constantly and of course 6 goals also goes a long way to satisfaction.Congrats to both sides AND the big crowd, all of them contributing to the show. May many more such games come to us soon. jb
Stevo
Roar Rookie
Very much hoping for a strong showing "Victory also face another challenging contest as they face cross town rivals Melbourne City in the pre-Christmas derby ...... "
Akari
Roar Rookie
I didn't see this game but I felt as if I did when reading this article. Thank you, Athos, and I will certainly watch a replay of it.
Qantas supports Australian Football
Guest
Great spectacle---marvellous match. The standard of Australian Football has been taken to a new level after last night. Pleasing to see we are producing quality Australian football managers---Muscat and Arnold have really come of age in leaps and bounds---mixing and changing the playing systems they take to their opposition on the day.
Catnap
Guest
If all matches were like this the crowds would be flocking to the hal that's all!!!!
Gareth
Guest
Didn't come away with the three points but quite happy with how the team played, more of that please. Is there any reason why Victory continue to play out of Docklands? Surely with a crowd of 25,000, having a mostly full crowd at AAMI park would be a better spectacle than a half empty AFL stadium.