Melbourne Victory put in their best performance of the season to beat Wellington Phoenix 3-1 in front of 14,000 people at AAMI Park. Archie Thompson, a Vince Lia own goal and Diogo Ferreira goals sealed the win in the first half, with Alex Smith scoring a consolation goal late in the second half.

Melbourne Victory

1. Same team

Mehm Durakovic sent out the same team for the first time this season in the same narrow diamond 4-4-2 system. It was an interesting call to leave veteran defender Roddy Vargas out in place of Petar Franjic and keep the side as it was, considering the frustrating result against Adelaide, but you can’t argue with this result and performance. I think it paid off.

2. Should have had 5 or 6

I don’t think I’ve seen so many one-on-one chances with the keeper wasted in one game like  Victory did. It was quite frustrating and surreal to watch to watch this many chances, Harry Kewell’s in particular. The midfield passed well and the front third of Hernandez, Kewell and Thompson just ran rings over the Phoenix defence all first half and are really starting to gel. It was Victory’s best game of the season, but there is still work to do.

3. Didn’t play the full 90 minutes

The second half started well for Victory, very much picking up where they left off in the first half. Probably the most dissapointing thing from the game for Victory was dropping off in the last 20 minutes. I feel it was concentration falling away rather than being a fitness issue, see Billy Celeski’s red (I’ll get to that). Granted, they were 3-0 up, but I doubt they will be let off as easy as they were this weekend. It can’t afford to happen often if Victory are to do anything this season.

 4. What was Billy Celeski thinking?

The midfielder played a good game, which is why his sending off 15 minutes from time is such a shame for him and the club. There was no need for him to do anything silly, being so far ahead, and he’ll pay the price for it by missing the Melbourne derby. Mehm Durakovic was fuming and rightly so. He looked in good touch this game (setting up the first goal for Archie), and dare I say it, he’ll be missed.

 5. Shouldn’t get ahead of themselves

It was a good win and what was needed for Melbourne. However, there are still improvements to make and with all due respect, I’m not sure how much competition Wellington were for most of the game. Two issues out of this game was the drop in concentration and the lack of finishing in front of goal in the second half.

 I think Mehm has found the right shape and I expect him to continue with it in this week’s derby. It is going to be a huge occasion and I can’t wait to be there. It promises to be a great game and I don’t think form or momentum is going to be a huge factor in this one. It is going to be about who are the bigger game players and who stands up to play a huge game for his side.

Wellington Phoenix

1. Poor, tired effort

They looked and played like a tired team. That was probably always going to be the case after a gruelling schedule of three games in eight days. But, the space and time that was given to Hernandez, Kewell and Thompson was just criminal and the players didn’t look up to it. They saved a bit of face in the second half, but would want to forget about this pretty quickly.

2. Played too high a line

They were torn apart by the Victory attack, as pass after pass went through the defensive line which sat at around halfway/ in between the penalty box and halfway all first half. Thompson and Kewell gladly exposed this as Hernandez was given free reign to do as he pleased. I’m usually in favour of a high line, but when your midfield is turning over the ball, putting no pressure on and your central defenders are slow, there is going to be trouble. Phoenix were clearly not up to it.

3. Missing Paul Ifill

He has had trouble with injury to start his season and Pheonix are a lesser team because of it. In this case, he limped off with a groin injury midweek against Roar and missed this game as a result of that. He is a fantastic player and the Phoenix attack miss him. I hope he gets back soon and performs at his usual best, Wellington need it.

4. Improvement second half

Cortes, Sanchez and Pavlovic came on in the second half and Wellington looked better for it, in particular their ball movement. Alex Smith’s goal was a good effort, but it didn’t really mean much for the rest of the game. I can’t help but wonder where this was in the first half, as they started to pass well while Victory eased off.  It was a mixture of both Victory’s concentration leaving them and Phoenix improving a little that led to a better second half for Wellington.

5. An aberration?

Based on their effort against Brisbane last week and the win over Perth before that, this game could well be an aberration. If they get their home form in order then that’ll help prove it. Their struggles on the road are well known and it only continued this weekend. 

My overriding feeling is that I still can’t see them getting far this season, with so much depending on staying fit and available due to their thin squad. January will be key for them, as the transfer window opens and looking to add new names to the squad.