Blog: Was This Our Season's Best?

IN EVERY season there are games or a game that defines that season for a team.

For the Victory in 2006/07, there was that memorable 3-3 draw against the Mariners with only nine men and the 2-1 win over Sydney away from home in the rain.

Last season it was again a game against the Mariners, a match that said so much about Victory's title defence, as they went down 2-1 and had two players sent off.

At the end of the season, when Melbourne Victory fans look back at Friday night's game against Adelaide, they may very well put this one down as the match that put a somewhat faltering season back on track.

In the lead up to this game, I have to admit that I was feeling pretty nervous. How would the team bounce back from last week's extremely disappointing performance without the attacking triumvirate of Hernandez, Thompson and Ney Fabiano against an Adelaide team that has been riding on the high of its ACL performances? And at the end of it all, those pre-game nerves ended up being pretty frayed in what was a pulsating match.

No one would argue that Ernie Merrick is a tactical genius, many times Victory fans, myself included have been frustrated by his formation and tactics. But on Friday night, like the Newcastle match earlier in the season, I think he got it pretty spot on.

He could have been excused for doing what most other clubs would have done in his position, missing three key attacking players, to have sat back and hoped for a point. He sensed that Adelaide were ripe for the picking, and went in with an attacking mindset despite the obvious setbacks.

The team, probably still reeling from last week's efforts and the associated criticisms from captain, fans and the media put in one of the best overall team efforts by a Victory team and one that had this pundit again proud to be a supporter. Of course, what made it all the sweeter was that it was against Adelaide, a team for which I have an inexplicable dislike.

But we didn't have it all our own way. The team showed immense character to bounce back from going behind twice, and there is no doubting that heads would have dropped after Cassio's well taken free kick – I know mine did.

This is where Muscat's on-field leadership also came to the fore, got himself more involved, and implored his troops to maintain the belief and to stick to the attacking game plan in order to keep Adelaide on the back foot. Merrick was also far more animated than we are used to seeing, exhorting the players on, knowing what was at stake.

Even though it was a great team performance, there are a number of players that should be singled out for praise.

Evan Berger was immense in the second half, repeatedly making runs down his wing and exploiting the tiring legs of Robert Cornthwaite, which in the end resulted in the second penalty for the Victory. For once, it was great to see the youngster put in some quality crosses at the end of his runs instead of running into dead ends.

Grant Brebner was also back in the form that made him one of the keys to Melbourne's triumphant Season Two. Celeski and Pondeljak are also worthy of a mention, and it was their combination that gave Melbourne the winner. It's not often you see an overhead bicycle kick as an assist for a goal.

It would be remiss of me not to comment on Cristiano's blatant dive to win a penalty for Adelaide's first goal. For the second week in a row, the Brazilian has clearly duped the referee into awarding his team a penalty. Fortunately for Melbourne, it didn't decide the outcome of the game as it did the week before, but could very well have.

It's something that needs to be stamped out of the game, and calls for suspensions for this kind of action have my support. I guess there was also a touch of karma for Cristiano, as he brought down Vargas for Melbourne's first penalty.

With both Ney Fabiano and Thompson returning from suspension next week, and on the back of an inspiring win, the other seven teams must surely be wondering if they can match it with Victory in the weeks to come.

Neil Zimmerman has been a Melbourne Victory fan since the beginning and has only ever missed two Victory home games. He has very little footballing talent but does use what little he does have for his indoor soccer team on a weekly basis. In his spare time he is also the editor of the84thminute and also runs the Victory In Melbourne site.