Melbourne Victory have stretched their A-League winning streak to five with Ola Toivonen steering them to a 2-0 defeat of Adelaide United.
Toivonen set up the first goal, scored by Kosta Barbarouses, and added one of his own in the 81st minute to cap the win on Saturday night at Marvel Stadiumn.
Barbarouses broke the deadlock in the 62nd minute after Terry Antonis fired in a ball which was headed by Toivonen.
Reds goalkeeper Paul Izzo managed to save the Swede’s shot but Barbarouses pounced on the rebound.
Antonis also had a hand in Toivonen’s goal, with his neat backheel flick picked up and smashed into the net.
Adelaide did well in the first half to contain the defending champions and particularly Japanese superstar Keisuke Honda.
They had the best chance of the opening stanza with a thumping header by Michael Marrone in the 15th minute hitting the crossbar.
Teen Apostolos Stamatelopoulos also looked a threat but lacked finishing polish.
Melbourne did well to recover from the early loss of defender Georg Neidermeier, who rolled his right ankle in a clash with Stamatelopoulos in the fourth minute.
The big German immediately limped from the field and had his ankle strapped and tried to play on before making his departure permanent in the ninth minute with James Troisi entering the fray.
Thomas Deng worked hard to cover the loss of his teammate and was one of Melbourne’s best.
It continued a run of bad luck for Niedermeier, who was forced off the field after an accidental punch to the head against Perth in round two and was concussed in round five in the Big Blue.
Home fans were upset midway through the first half when United’s Scott Galloway unintentionally handballed in the box, but referee Shaun Evans waved it away.
The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) upheld the referee’s decision, denying Victory’s calls for a penalty.
Nemesis
Guest
We haven't had our best XI available without injuries even once this season. First 4 matches: no Toivenen at all for 3 matches, played 10' in the 4th match 3 matches out of 7: no Raul Last week: no Georg, no Troisi Last night: no Raul, no Ansell, Georg injured in opening 5 minutes. No problems.
Kangas
Roar Rookie
They look good , especially Antonis Honda etc but injures or refs can derail any team as we have seen at Newcastle. So Perth Adelaide Sydney and a few other teams shouldn’t throw the towel in yet . Only got to make the top 6 in this comp.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
With Niedermeier forced off so early in the game, and no defenders in reserve, Muskie had to plonk Broxham alongside Deng. He's filled in before, but not sure if he has had to play the position for more than 85 minutes before. Both ended up having good games. First hour, Adelaide held Melbourne off quite well, had some chances, but in the end, it was the class of Toivonen that stood out, well above everything Adelaide had to offer. His touch, poise, ball control and finishing, all top shelf. The Victory on the way to a fourth double.