The sixth Melbourne derby took place on Saturday as Victory and Heart battled out for city bragging rights. Over 26,000 would see an exciting scoreless draw. Both sides would have their chances over the 90 minutes, but there would be no winner on the night.

Melbourne Victory

1. No Hernandez
Jim Magilton (again) opted to leave the playmaker on the bench; he was eventually brought on at the 71st minute. The substitution coincided with Victory’s best parts in play; you could sense the lift in the side.

I was asked on Twitter post-game whether I thought Hernandez had a future at the club and the answer is yes, I do think Hernandez has a future at the club, next to a holder in midfield. The onus is on him to prove whether he wants to do the work and pull his weight defensively.

2. Kewell, Thompson struggle
The famous pair struggled to leave a mark on the game, particularly Kewell looking out of sorts in the first half until taken off in the 61st minute. Magilton would bring Danny Allsopp instead; who I thought looked good linking up with Thompson. I thought it was the right move, why stick with something that isn’t working? Thompson continued his dry spell, which is concerning. The league legend seems confident of turning it around, judging by his recent tweets.

3. Fabio and Covic brilliant
The veteran goalkeeper and the Brazilian fullback have established themselves as Victory’s best performers this season. Covic put in an outstanding shift in goal, keeping his side in it far too often. Heart couldn’t breach his net, although Craig Goodwin came mighty close late in the game. As for Fabio, he is a player that isn’t flash but works hard in defence and attack. Also has a great attitude to the club. If the Victory starting XI had the attitude of 11 Fabios, they’d be in a better position.

4. What was Grant Brebner thinking?
The Scottish terrier was sent off in the 76th minute for a stupid one foot high studded tackle on Eli Babalj. There was no need for him to do it, as there was no chance he would win the ball and was already on a yellow card. It was a red any day, anytime. I thought Brebner had an all right game, but wasn’t given much support from Broxham on the ball.

5. Better 2nd half
It was a very average opening 45 minutes from Victory, understatement I know. Too much route one football pretty much sums it up, with little holes made in the Heart defence. I thought it was much better in the second half, as Victory had more combinations and kept the ball on the deck, although there were long ball counter attacks as well. Biggest problem with Victory playing the ball was midfield; who struggle to pass the ball effectively.

 

Melbourne Heart

1. Draw a fair result
Heart missed many key players and did very well in the opening 45, but their chances went begging. You can’t expect to win games if you can’t finish and this was the case for Heart in this game. If anything, this game showed the baby club’s depth in the playing ranks. They can be happy with the effort, but they’ll be rueing what could have been a big derby win.

2. Craig Goodwin on debut
The 20 year old leftback came in for Aziz Behich and did not disappoint as he played a huge game on a huge occasion. He was called up from the youth ranks, which I was surprised about. I was thinking Brendan Hamill would have filled that role, but happy to be surprised here. He gave Petar Franjic a hard night and worked hard both ways to be the man of the match. It’s a credit to the Heart youth set-up bringing these players up, question is now: can he be a winger when Behich comes back?

3. Lacked the finishing touch
And this was demonstrated by Kristian Sarkies’ howler as he blasted over the bar with only Covic to beat. Many chances were left unfinished or were kept out by some fantastic keeping. Babalj and Terra were culprits for mine. Craig Goodwin was just very unlucky, with a couple of great shots to challenge Covic. Plenty of sharp build-up and work leading up to chances just was a matter of putting them away.

4. Midfield missing stars
Germano, Shroj and Sarkies made up the Heart three man midfield and played well together. But it was clear they were missing the class touches and running of Fred and Matt Thompson. This is not really a criticism of the Germano, Shroj and Sarkies triumvirate, who were great, just didn’t have that touch needed. I also wouldn’t have played Sarkies as a holder instead switching him and Germano, who has proven very adept there.

5. Dangerous Babalj
Another product of the Heart youth system, the tall youngster was dangerous against Victory. Babalj looked most likely to break the deadlock in Heart’s favour. He was at his most dangerous running at the Victory defence centre pairing of Leijer and Milligan. He offers Heart another option up the front as the tall presence either in the box or running with the ball. Babalj has plenty of potential, definitely a star for the future.