A look into who performed and who under-performed in Round 9.
Hot
Adam Le Fondre
Le Fondre put in his best performance of the season with his hat trick against the Brisbane Roar. He scored the opening goal in the first ten minutes of the game, which helped set the tone for the afternoon. He scored three goals from his four shots in the box, which demonstrates his ability to get into attacking positions and be clinical in front of goal.
Wellington Phoenix
Having a season resurgence, with the win over the Wanderers making it three wins from their three last games. The best collective team performance of the season from the side.
(Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)
Besart Berisha
After going through a goal drought, Berisha was keen to make a statement against his old side and he delivered, scoring the goal to level the scores and then the goal to double their lead. He demonstrated his ability to be clinical in front of goal, scoring two goals from his two shots inside the box.
Cold
Melbourne City
After asserting themselves as one of the teams to beat this season, City didn’t exactly display their title credentials against Perth. Against the bottom side going into the round, City were outclassed, going scoreless. You know when Jamie Maclaren can’t find the net, it isn’t a great performance.
Brisbane Roar
While the Roar put in a memorable performance, it wasn’t for the right seasons. Their 5-1 loss to Sydney is currently the biggest defeat for any club this season. Looking at the scores it’s hard to believe that the Roar had more possession (58 per cent to 42 per cent) and more shots on goal (15 to 12). The defence was beaten far too easily and it was a performance that the Roar will look to put behind them.
Melbourne Victory
For the second time this season the Victory were beaten by the league’s newest franchise Western United. The Victory dominated possession (64 per cent to 36 per cent) and had more shots (19 to 12) for the game, yet most of possession consisted of ball passing, which didn’t advance up the field, and the shots failed to hit the mark. Manager Marko Kurz will begin to feel the pressure if his side doesn’t improve.
AndyAdelaide
Roar Rookie
not until they sort the defence out.
Redondo
Roar Rookie
True - I still reckon Victory will come good shortly.
Nemesis
Guest
Conclusion about Melbourne Victory is accurate. The analysis is factually incorrect, unless you only watched the 2nd half. The facts are: Melbourne Victory created enough chances to win. But, Kurto saved 2 certain goals; another was cleared off the line, another hit the crossbar, another hit the upright. WUN had 3 chances and they scored all 3. Let's see what Shabab's xG and xGA analysis looks like for this match. My observations suggest: MVFC will have a very high xG (i.e. much more than the 1 goal they scored) and the xGA will be 3. In fact, WUN vs MVFC was very similar to MVFC vs Perth. Perth had huge amount of possession, huge number of chances & half chances. MVFC had very few chances and won 1-0.