Melbourne Victory
1
Match Complete
Perth Glory
0
| 76' |  | D. Castro | ||
| 58' | | C. Ikonomidis | ||
| R. Kruse |  | 33' | ||
| O. Toivonen | | 28' | ||
| 20' | | J. Meredith |
| 11 | Shots | 22 | ||
| 3 | On Target | 4 | ||
| 18 | Fouls | 12 | ||
| 7 | Corners | 11 | ||
| 3 | Offsides | 1 | ||
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 | ||
| 1 | Yellow Cards | 3 |
Melbourne Victory welcome Perth Glory to AAMI Park on Friday evening in Round 8 of the 2019-20 A-League season. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 7:30pm (AEDT).
Round 8 begins with a clash between two of this season’s biggest under-performers.
Both Glory and Victory finished in the top three last season but slow starts to the 2019/20 campaign have left them in seventh and tenth place respectively.
Victory boss Marco Kurz revealed that open discussions between himself and his players were held during the week in an attempt to curb their miserable run of form.
“I spoke with the whole group and had a chat with a lot of players,” he said.
“I think we were on the same page that we have to show from the first minute another attitude.
“The way we discussed was really good, it was always respectful but very clear.
“We will show we are better.”
Performances have been nowhere near the standard expected of Victory this season, particularly at home where they are yet to win in four attempts.
Victory’s opponents have also found the going tough, with a pivotal run of games coming up.
Perth boss Tony Popovic fielded familiar questions in his pre-match media briefings following his side’s 1-3 loss to Sydney FC last weekend.
“We know we’re close,” he said.
“We, by our points compared to last year seem like we’re underachieving, and that’s an expectation we ask for.
“We’ve got to take the performance [against Sydney] which we know was good, into the Victory game which is another challenge against another big club.
“You’ve got to relish these games in a great stadium against a great opponent, take our best game there and go with the confidence to get the result.”
It is still early in the season but there is no doubting the importance of this game as both clubs search for an elusive three points to kick-start their seasons.
Team news
Leigh Broxham is set to pull on the Melbourne Victory jersey for the 300th time in the A-League – the first player to reach the milestone for a single club.
Andrew Nabbout played 90 minutes against Adelaide after recovering from injury and Robbie Kruse is in contention for a starting place after featuring from the bench last week.
Perth Glory defender Alex Grant is available to return after serving a one-match ban, but Osama Malik misses a third straight week with a hamstring problem.
Prediction
There is pressure on both sides to get a result, which may lead to a tight, low-scoring game.
Last weekend’s 3-1 loss to Adelaide United was Victory’s third defeat in four matches.
Marco Kurz badly needs a win but might settle for a point against a Glory side with a good recent record away from home.
Melbourne Victory 1 – 1 Perth Glory
Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 7:30pm (AEDT).
When: Friday, November 29, 2019
Kick-off: 7:30pm AEDT
Where: AAMI Park
Broadcast: FOX Sports 505
Stream: MyFootball Live App, Kayo Sports
Melbourne Victory
2.Storm ROUX, 3.Corey BROWN, 4.James DONACHIE, 5.Tim HOOGLAND, 6.Leigh BROXHAM, 7.Kenny ATHIU, 8.Jakob POULSEN, 9.Andrew NABBOUT, 10.Robbie KRUSE, 11.Ola TOIVONEN (c), 16.Josh HOPE, 17.Elvis KAMSOBA, 18.Migjen BASHA, 19.Ben CARRIGAN, 20.Lawrence THOMAS (gk), 21.Adama TRAORE, 22.Kristijan DOBRAS, 24.Anthony LESIOTIS, 25.Brandon LAUTON, 50.Brendan WHITE (gk)
Perth Glory
1.Tando VELAPHI (gk), 2.Alex GRANT, 3.Jacob TRATT, 4.Gregory WUTHRICH, 5.Ivan FRANJIC, 6.Dino DJULBIC, 7.Joel CHIANESE, 8.James MEREDITH, 9.Bruno FORNAROLI, 12.Kim SOO-BEOM, 14.Chris HAROLD, 16.Tomislav MRCELA, 17.Diego CASTRO (c), 19.Chris IKONOMIDIS, 20.Jake BRIMMER, 27.JUANDE, 28.Gabriel POPOVIC, 29.Kristian POPOVIC, 33.Liam REDDY (gk), 88.Neil KILKENNY
Daniel Greenland
Roar Guru
It's clear that Glory are missing Jason Davidson after his move to Ulsan Hyundai. His contribution to Glory's success last season was under-rated for me, a constant attacking threat and outlet on the left, but also effective defensively. Glory's strength last year was their ability to play out from the back with pace and purpose. The transition from defence to attack is too ponderous this season, allowing teams to get behind the ball. It will take time for this new look defence, without Lowry also, to click. Malik and Wuthrich in particular have potential. Not so sure about Meredith, who is early 30's, and Franjic - also in the later stages of his career - both had poor games. I'm sure Popovic was hoping Kim Soo-beom would hit the ground running but that hasn't been the case. Also felt Chianese was unfortunate to be benched - had a good game against Sydney.
Stevo
Roar Rookie
I'm excited by teams playing good football. It doesn't have to be just MC (and I can tell you we've rarely excited the fans accept when we were banging them in for fun with Mooy, El Tuna and Novillo). I was excited seeing Roar under Ange. Popovic and WSW going all the way to claim the Asian crown. Heck I'm excited seeing Ninkovic and Castro.
Harry Selassie
Roar Rookie
There is still plenty of talent on this Perth Glory team, the core of last season's minor Premiers but they are just not getting it done. Makes you wonder how much the defeat in the Grand Final affected this team's mentality?
Nemesis
Guest
Why would a Melbourne City fan want to get excited about Melbourne Victory, or be concerned with them winning a trophy? We wonder why outsiders call A-League fans plastic. Melbourne City are top of the table and no one gets excited about them. Not even their own fans can be bothered watching them. They'll turn up to watch the Melbourne Derby in December, that's it. Melbourne City are a bog average team this season. Couple of years ago, when Cahill first joined City, that was their best chance for a trophy. They won the FFA Cup & that was the extent of their ambitions.
Daniel Greenland
Roar Guru
Melbourne Victory 1 – 0 Perth Glory Melbourne Victory secured a much-needed three points with a win that propels them into the top six and eases the pressure on Coach Marco Kurz. Glory’s frustrating start to the season continues as Robbie Kruse’s first A-League goal in eight years condemns Tony Popovic to another night of head-scratching. Despite dominating much of the play and hitting the frame of the goal twice, the visitors were unable to break down a resolute Victory side who looked dangerous on the counter attack throughout the match. Both sides have work to do if they are to become genuine contenders this season, but based on this performance, it is Victory who have more positives to build on. The fixtures do not get any easier for Glory who stay in Victoria and face Melbourne City next Friday. Victory travel to Western United next Sunday afternoon.
Stevo
Roar Rookie
Hard to get excited by these two teams. They both have a ton of work to do to threaten to take some silverware this season.
Daniel Greenland
Roar Guru
:football: FULL-TIME :football: Melbourne Victory 1 – 0 Perth Glory
Daniel Greenland
Roar Guru
90+3' Thomas saves at the feet of Wuthrich who went steaming into the box and nearly got a goal at the death for Glory. Victory 1 – 0 Glory
Daniel Greenland
Roar Guru
90+2' Victory make a late change with Nabbout making way for Brown. He has had an excellent game tonight.
Daniel Greenland
Roar Guru
3 mins added time :football:
Daniel Greenland
Roar Guru
90' Have Glory got anything left in the tank? It's been a big effort from the away side. Victory 1 – 0 Glory
Daniel Greenland
Roar Guru
88' Kruse receives a big applause as he is replaced by Athiu.
Stevo
Roar Rookie
I’m just amazed how professional players blaze away into row ZZ. Nabbout, that was terrible.
Daniel Greenland
Roar Guru
88' Chianese is on for Juande.
Daniel Greenland
Roar Guru
86' Nabbout tries a speculative effort from distance. Victory are five minutes away from a vital win.
Daniel Greenland
Roar Guru
83' Lesiotis shoots high and very wide for Victory. Victory 1 – 0 Glory
Daniel Greenland
Roar Guru
82' Glory players showing clear signs of frustration as Victory keep the ball and look to run down the clock.
Daniel Greenland
Roar Guru
80' Ohh Elvis! The Victory forward bursts towards goal but drags his shot wide of the mark.
Daniel Greenland
Roar Guru
78' Kamsoba finds space and crosses for Nabbout but it's cut out. Victory 1 – 0 Glory
76'