A 110-day postponement didn’t stop Melbourne City from picking up where they left off, taking bragging rights in a 2-1 win over Melbourne Victory at AAMI Park.
Melbourne’s 40th edition of the derby restarted from the 21st-minute mark due to the ugly pitch invasion scenes, resulting in the match becoming abandoned back in December.
Matthew Leckie and Richard van der Venne were the biggest absentees for the Rado Vidosic to find solutions for, while Tony Popovic made seven changes from the interrupted clash, including the unavailability of marquee signing Nani.
City took a 1-0 lead into Wednesday night, having settled into the contest after some early pressure applied from Victory.
It took just four minutes after the restart to witness the first yellow card after a challenge from goalscorer O’Neill on Bruno Fornaroli, reigniting the expected derby passion.
Once again it was Tony Popovic’s men stamping their authority early and gaining more attacking territory, only to hand over possession to City as the match progressed.
A chorus of boos aimed towards goalkeeper Tom Glover from the Victory faithful wasn’t enough to throw him off, making some critical saves as well as his opposite number one in Paul Izzo to keep it 1-0 at the break.
The game was crying out for a moment of brilliance, and in-form midfielder Aiden O’Neill provided just that with his second goal of the game, driving into the box and doubling City’s advantage after 56 minutes.
With Victory chasing the game, Popovic opted for a triple substitution with 25 minutes remaining, introducing forwards Nishan Velupillay and Lleyton Brooks as well as midfielder Rai Marchán in order to salvage a result.
Bruce Kamau’s rugby tackle on Valon Berisha summed up the frustration amongst the Victory players trying to mount any sort of comeback, as City kept their composure while controlling the play.
Despite being second-best for the majority of the encounter, Victory was right back in it thanks to some brilliant build-up play finished off by super-sub Velupillay to restore any hope of a sensational revival.
That was the spark that the four-time champions needed, as moments later Velupillay showed his class once again by dribbling his way near the penalty area, providing a pass to Brooks who blasted his shot over the crossbar.
A late surge wasn’t enough for Victory meaning their hopes of finals football hang by a thread, while City managed to survive and go five points clear of second-placed Adelaide United and move one step closer to claiming another premiers plate.
Christian Montegan
Roar Pro
That’s correct and all unsold tickets were available to the public a week prior
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
did they charge for attendance? assumedly all previous tickets from the first 20 minutes were valid
Christian Montegan
Roar Pro
It was a decent crowd and although the match was only 70 minutes long, could the fixture have been moved to a Saturday night and swapped whichever fixture was currently scheduled on that Saturday to midweek? Victory has some talent and obviously a great coach but they have just been too inconsistent all season. Midfield needs to be the number one focus in the off-season. Four points behind Sydney in 6th seems very close which it is, however, that just shows the amount of congestion in the table with a 12-team competition
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
I think the circumstances were a bit different for Glover
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
im not condoning the actions of the 'fans' that ran onto the field but the bucket doesnt happen without the flare intentionally (yes it was intentionally because he looks at the crowd - he knows exactly what he did) being thrown back at the crowd. as a player it doesnt matter if its a flare, coin, piece of fruit etc that has been thrown - move it off the pitch (izzo did exactly this at the other end with a flare, perfectly handled) - never ever hurl it back into the away end. danny vuk got a hefty suspension for touching a ref, what glover did was far worse - he should've been suspended for the remainder of the season for that action
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
MV should have had the advantage with an extra days rest and that they put relatively little effort into the match against Wellington versus City busting a gut one man down against Newcastle. The only evidence of that was at the end of the match when Vellopulay beat a lot of players. I dont understand the use of subs from City, they brought on two old guys with 5 minutes to go. With all these teams parking the bus against them I would have that they would have wanted to try Caputo for some minutes certainly, what about Borges and what about giving Maclaren a rest with his broken toe .
Stevo
Roar Rookie
Inciting a riot? Bit rich. The MV faithful were on a mission to make a point, they used Glover as an excuse. Throwing a steel bucket of sand onto someone’s head is assault in anybody’s language. Maybe you missed that?
Para+Ten ISUZU Subway support Australian Football
Roar Rookie
I was hoping to see a successor for Mooy soon, I think now we have one emerging in Aiden O'Neil. Fast, a good passer of the ball, and a reader of the game. The only thing missing now is Mooy's ability to put his foot on the ball to control the tempo of the game. Although O'Neil's performance last night was breathtaking; finishing the game with 2 goals. Top marks.
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
how was he not going to get booed? are you forgetting he incited the riot (by purposely throwing a flare back into the crowd) he should've been suspended for several weeks for that action, the league is incredibly weak for doing nothing about it
Grem
Roar Rookie
He is a likeable character and so committed to his team.
Grem
Roar Rookie
It looked like a pretty good crowd for a Wednesday night. That backs up the - more games after 5 pm for the A Leagues to increase spectators. I watched and enjoyed the game. I thought both sides played well with the better team winning. It’s hard to believe Victory are sitting near the bottom of the table. That disgusting act by those morons at the previous game really disrupted their season. And I agree Steve - how good is Aiden O’Neill? He is looking more and more like the Socceroos number 6.
pete4
Roar Rookie
Lacklustre season for MV with the squad they have on paper How good was post match interview with Berisha. He basically thinks City will go all the way :football:
Grem
Roar Rookie
Very good!
Stevo
Roar Rookie
Why are the Victory faithful booing Glover? I don't get it. How good is Aiden :thumbup: Overall it's hard to argue against City claiming all three points even if we had to survive a few scary moments like when EL Tuna decided to try a sideways scissor kick late in the game that was saved by a very surprised looking Talbot right in front of goals :shocked: Leckie and van der Venne are big losses to our team and it's shown in the last few months.