Melbourne Victory
2
Match Complete
Adelaide United
1
| A. Nabbout |  | 91' | ||
| M. Rojas | | 57' | ||
| L. Broxham |  | 51' | ||
| L. Thomas | | 33' | ||
| O. Toivonen | | 14' | ||
| 7' | | K. F. Opseth |
| 26 | Shots | 15 | ||
| 8 | On Target | 4 | ||
| 20 | Fouls | 14 | ||
| 6 | Corners | 5 | ||
| 1 | Offsides | 2 | ||
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 | ||
| 3 | Yellow Cards | 0 |
Melbourne Victory and Adelaide United will be both looking to push for their spot in the finals at AAMI Park on Saturday night. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog with kick-off at 7:30 pm AEDT.
Melbourne Victory is yet to win an A-League game under interim coach Carlos Salvachua, with three losses and two draws during that period of play. Melbourne Victory has also only scored four goals in their five A-League matches under Salvachua while they have conceded nine.
On the other hand, Adelaide has been in decent form in their last six A-League matches, winning four out of the six. However, their losses to both Brisbane Roar and Western Sydney Wanderers shows that there are defensive holes to exploit, especially after conceding five goals against the Wanderers last weekend.
The task for Adelaide is made even harder by the fact that Ben Halloran is currently out after suffering a hamstring injury in training. Halloran has four goals in his last three clashes in the A-League and will be a massive loss to the Reds ahead of this fiery clash.
Gertjan Verbeek could go one of two ways when approaching his replacement, he could select Ryan Kitto in a more conventional option, which could see Nikola Mileusnic shift across to his favoured flank, or he could go with the wildcard option that a lot of fans are busting to see.
Mohammed Toure remains in the squad after bursting onto the A-League scene weeks ago at just 15, but his performances may warrant a maiden A-League start. Toure doesn’t provide a like-for-like replacement, but yet again it would allow Mileusnic to shift across to his favoured flank and Toure would be played on the left.
Another option for Adelaide would be to shift Riley McGree across to the right and play James Troisi, who is returning from injury, in the playmaker role most likely alongside George Blackwood.
Ryan Strain, Stefan Mauk, Nathan Konstantopoulos, Pacifique Niyongabire and Al Hassan Toure currently remain on the injury list, while Lachaln Brook is currently away on international duty.
This leaves Adelaide with low squad depth coming into this clash, but can they get the win at AAMI Park?
Prediction
A 2-1 win to Adelaide United, with Riley McGree netting twice for the reds and Elvis Kamsoba breaking his A-League duck late in the game for Melbourne Victory.
Remember to join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, with the ball first rolling at 7:30 pm AEDT.
Game information
Kick-off: 7:30 pm AEDT
Stadium: AAMI Park, Melbourne
TV: FOX Sports 505, ABC TV
Online: MyFootball Live App, Kayo Sports, ABC iView
Odds: Melbourne Victory $2.25, Draw $3.75, Adelaide United $3.10
Last five meetings: Melbourne Victory 1, Draw 0, Adelaide United 4
Squads
Adelaide
20 Paul Izzo, 22 Michael Jakobsen, 23 Jordan Elsey, 5 Michael Maria, 2 Michael Marrone, 27 Louis D’Arrigo, 8 Riley McGree, 10 James Troisi, 11 Kristian Opseth, 17 Nikola Mileusnic, 14 George Blackwood
Reserves
31 Mirko Boland, 7 Ryan Kitto, 29 Kusini Yengi, 40 Dakota Ochsenham, 49 Mohamed Toure
Melbourne
20 Lawrence Thomas, 15 Giancarlo Gallifuoco, 4 James Donachie, 21 Adama Traoré, 5 Tim Hoogland, 23 Marcos Rojas, 6 Leigh Broxham, 18 Migjen Basha, 11 Ola Toivonen, 17 Elvis Kamsoba, 9 Andrew Nabbout
Reserves
2 Storm Roux, 16 Josh Hope, 24 Anthony Lesiotis, 7 Kenjok Athiu, 30 Matthew Sutton, 19 Benjamin Carrigan, 25 Brandon Lauton
Jack George
Roar Guru
Thank you for joining me for tonight's original rivalry, and make sure to check out the rest of the weekend on the A-League here at the Roar. Have a good week everyone, and I'll hopefully see you next week for another live blog! FULLTIME: Melbourne Victory 2, Adelaide United 1
Jack George
Roar Guru
Thanks for tuning in!
Jack George
Roar Guru
Match Report: Melbourne Victory has defeated Adelaide United two goals to won at Marvel Stadium. Melbourne deserved the win, creating twenty-two chances while having twenty-six shots compared to Adelaide’s thirteen chances and fifteen shots. However, it was Adelaide United who opened the scoring early on in just the sixth minute through Kristian Opseth, who grabbed his second A-league goal. Melbourne Victory attempted to play the ball out from the back but was pressed, and Riley McGree gathered the ball before playing a beautifully disguised through-ball to Kristian Opseth, who made a smart run. Opseth’s first touch opened up his shot, and he made no mistake with the finish, curling the ball into the bottom left-hand corner of the net. From then on, it was Melbourne Victory who dominated play creating some great chances. In the twenty-second minute, a wonderfully shaped ball from Tim Hoogland, who was playing out of position at right-back found Andrew Nabbout in behind Adelaide’s defence, but Nabbout’s acrobatic effort was denied through a wonderful stop from Paul Izzo. In the thirty-ninth minute, Nabbout found himself one on one with Paul Izzo, but instead of attempts the first time finish, Nabbout attempted to dribble the ball around Izzo. Izzo smartly forced him wide, while Michael Jakobsen and Jordan Elsey quickly retreated to the goal line, forcing Nabbout to play it back and miss another chance. Melbourne Victory continued to dominate but couldn’t find an equaliser before halftime. However, that equaliser did come through Marco Rojas in the fifty-seventh minute. Tim Hoogland found Marco Rojas who stormed into the box, taking a beautiful first touch before making no mistake with the finish. The game then became very even, with both sides cutting out the other teams’ chances. However, a winner was found for Melbourne Victory late on in the ninetieth minute through Andrew Nabbout. Nabbout cut inside of Mirko Boland before unleashing an unstoppable shot into the top right-hand corner, winning the game for his side. Next up, Adelaide United face Western United at home while Melbourne Victory faces Sydney FC in a massive big blue at Marvel Stadium. FULLTIME: Melbourne Victory 2, Adelaide United 1
Coastyboi
Guest
No Melbourne, noooooo! Cheers, Jack.
Jack George
Roar Guru
FULLTIME! Melbourne Victory has claimed all three points here at Marvel Stadium! The match report will be out in ten minutes, but in the meantime share your thoughts on this dramatic clash! FULLTIME: Melbourne Victory 2, Adelaide United 1
Jack George
Roar Guru
90 + 2' Melbourne Victory taking their time with the free-kick. Melbourne Victory 2, Adelaide United 1
Jack George
Roar Guru
90 + 2' Toivonen is fouled just behind the halfway line and that may be it for Adelaide. Melbourne Victory 2, Adelaide United 1
Jack George
Roar Guru
90 + 1' Melbourne Victory now sitting very deep as Adelaide look to salvage something out of this game. Melbourne Victory 2, Adelaide United 1
Jack George
Roar Guru
90 + 1' What a strike from Andrew Nabbout! Melbourne Victory 2, Adelaide United 1
Stevo
Roar Rookie
The one-eyed Nabbout finds the ol’ onion bag!!!!!!!!
91'
Jack George
Roar Guru
90' There will be three minutes of added time here at Marvel Stadium. Melbourne Victory 2, Adelaide United 1
Jack George
Roar Guru
90' GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL! Melbourne Victory may have just won the original rivalry! Nabbout cuts inside beautifully before unleashing an unstoppable shot into the top right-hand corner! Melbourne Victory 2, Adelaide United 1
Coastyboi
Guest
The final countdown... Melbourne does look better on paper. Gosh, I suppose a draw is fair.
Jack George
Roar Guru
89' The corner is cleared from Melbourne Victory and now they look to go on the counter attack... Melbourne Victory 1, Adelaide United 1
Jack George
Roar Guru
89' Chance! Boland releases Toure in behind who shoots towards the bottom corner but Lawrence Thomas saves. Adelaide have a corner on the right. Melbourne Victory 1, Adelaide United 1
Jack George
Roar Guru
88' Mirko Boland advances into space. Melbourne Victory 1, Adelaide United 1
Jack George
Roar Guru
88' Melbourne Victory sloppily give the ball away in midfield. Melbourne Victory 1, Adelaide United 1
Jack George
Roar Guru
87' Blackwood swings in a dangerous ball along the deck but James Donachie is the first to react. Melbourne Victory 1, Adelaide United 1
Jack George
Roar Guru
86' Subsitution for Melbourne Victory as Elvis Kamsoba is brought off in favour of Kenny Athiu. Melbourne Victory 1, Adelaide United 1