Melbourne Victory’s youngsters have put on a show, beating Shanghai SIPG 2-1 in an Asian Champions League dead rubber.
Pierce Waring and Jai Ingham were the unlikely scorers, handing the Chinese Super League leaders their first loss this season in any competition.
Wednesday night’s exhibition-style contest came about after games on match-day five confirmed Shanghai SIPG’s progression and Victory’s exit.
It was reflected in the team selections at AAMI Park.
Victory coach Kevin Muscat made seven changes from his weekend team. Shanghai boss Vito Pereira topped that by swinging 10.
With precious little on the line, what followed was an open and lively match.
Christian Theoharous was bright in a wide left role, Josh Hope was busy in the middle and Kenny Athiu threw himself about in customary fashion.
Athiu combined with his strike partner for Victory’s opener, sweeping the ball across the box for the lanky teenager to divert the ball home with the help of a defender’s deflection.
The goal was Waring’s first senior strike.
Victory’s lead lasted five minutes, when Elkeson started a move for the equaliser.
Lu Wenjun raced onto the Brazilian’s through-ball, cutting back for Lin Chuangyi to score past Matt Acton.
The free-flowing action continued after the break, when Terry Antonis’ cross gave Ingham an unmissable chance at the back post.
It was history repeated for the winger, who scored his first Victory goal two years ago in the same fixture.
Shanghai lifted their intensity to avoid defeat, with substitute Hulk driven to cause Victory problems.
He combined with fellow Brazilian Elkeson to draw a smart save out of Acton on 74 minutes.
But it was Victory’s night, which Muscat capped by throwing on 16-year-old Birkan Kirdar for a first appearance with minutes to go.
Muscat praised his side for taking the evening seriously.
“You could see there was a genuine concerted effort from the group,” he said.
“There’s dangers when there are so many new faces and they haven’t played together regularly.
“But there was real good energy, real good effort and some good football.”
Beaten coach Vitor Pereira said he was not happy with the result but implied he would not be losing any sleep over it.
“If I have to lose a match, okay, this match is not a problem,” he said.
Lionheart
Guest
Lachy's still developing KJ, you just got to stick with some players a bit longer. He was released from Roar, along with a number of others who are enjoying starts at other clubs. Pepper's been a waste of space as a midfielder but was transitioned to centre back with Roar injuries and he's been good value, although I doubt he'll hold his place when all hands are on deck. QAS has done a great job in turning out players, working with a number of high schools beforehand. I wonder how the Roar academy, now in full swing, will compare. Kossie (Kosmina) said a while back that when he first came to QLD from ADL he thought the development system here was ten years ahead of the southern states. I wonder if that's still valid.
Kangajets
Guest
What do you think of Lachy Jackson ? He has been at the jets for 3 years now He has speed for a big guy , but seems to lack confidence Merrick has been reluctant to play him since Boogard got injured . You got Jacob pepper from Newcastle, he seems to be finding his feet at centre back now
Lionheart
Guest
Donachie? Hardly a MV youth product. Like so many others, Doncs is from Sunnybank and came through QAS to Roar, sadly released by Aloisi. You could field a decent team from south Brisbane and QAS, both males and female teams. Both the Ingham brothers are also QAS products, Corey Brown (another rumoured to soon be released from Roar and talking to MV), Lachy Jackson, Luke Brattan (same junior club as Doncs, Rochedale Rovers), Shane Smeltz, and many others over a long period.
Nemesis
Guest
Complete myth about MVFC not giving youth a chance. But, for sure this group of youth should have been given more of a chance this season, especially since the senior team has been unimpressive. And the really positive thing about this group is that: Deng, Nigro, Pasquali, Theoharous, Waring, Hope, McGilp all came through the MVFC NPL system. Kenny Athiu & Jai Ingham also recruited to MVFC ALeague from the NPL system in Victoria. Then we have guys like: George Howard & Joe Katebian who shone at MVFC in NPL, but didn't make it at Aleague level. In the past MVFC gave lots of youth a chance: Nabbout, Pain, Murnane, Galloway, Markelis, Mahazi, Makarounas, Jeggo, Stella & even Nick Ansell all had huge amount of game time in the senior team at MVFC but didn't excel that's why they left. Murnane is now doing well in Norway 1st Division now he's in Finland. Ansell is playing 1st Division Portugal.
Mark
Guest
Victory have given plenty of young players opportunities in the A-League. The problem has been that many of them have not been able to progress beyond being anything more than squad players, and have not had any more luck when seeking opportunities elsewhere. Nabbout is the only young player I can recall that has flourished after leaving, and he can hardly say he didn’t get an opportunity at Victory.
TomC
Roar Guru
I've always felt the Victory haven't done quite enough to develop young players considering their significance in the A-league. This game was a good example of how the tide appears to be turning. Theoharous, Athiu, Donachie and in particular Thomas Deng have all grown substantially over the past 12 months.
Nemesis
Guest
Winning away is tough. If we win all our home games, most likely 1 point away from home is all that's required to finish Top 2.
kangajets
Guest
Caught bits of the match. Well done victory I keep thinking they are the real dark horse to make the grand final, hopefully not at Newcastle’s expense
Mark
Guest
A good end to a decent campaign, and a great boost for the team prior to the finals. If only they could figure out how to win ACL games away from home, they’d be regularly reaching the knockout stages.
Lionheart
Guest
Enjoyed this game - some promising youngsters in the MV squad.