Harrison Delbridge

Delbridge’s performance in the Melbourne derby has had people talking about him a serious contender for the Socceroos. It’s easy to see why as he restrained Ola Toivonen and Andrew Nabbout to help his side to a clean sheet.

The Melbourne City defender always seemed to be in the right place at the right time. He marshalled his teammates into line and hardly gave Victory’s forwards a chance to breathe. He also read play well and made a few crucial interceptions that broke up dangerous Victory attacks.

His aerial superiority was key with Victory putting a number of crosses into the box, only for Delbridge to thump it out of danger. The A-League’s website says he made 11 clearances, more than double anyone else on the pitch, highlighting just how much of a presence he was in City’s own box.

After an unspectacular first season in the A-League, Delbridge showed that he might finally be ready to take his team to the next level from a defensive point of view.

Alessandro Diamanti

He may not have scored but boy, did Diamanti live up to the hype in Western United’s opening match against the Wellington Phoenix.

The Italian controlled the game from start to finish as he pinged ball after ball behind the Nix defence, with seemingly no way to stop him. Diamanti’s cultured left foot was pinpoint accurate as he unleashed teammates Connor Pain and Josh Risdon into space on the flanks time and time again.

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But Diamanti’s spectacular passing range wasn’t met with the same accuracy when it came to his long range shots, getting a bit too trigger happy when it came to firing a shot from outside the box. Diamanti giveth, and he taketh away.

Still, there is plenty to look forward to for newcomer fans of Western United if Diamanti can continue dominating games like he did on Sunday. The 36 year old will definitely face a sterner test of his quality next week, when they take on last season’s Premiers, Perth Glory.

Chris Ikonomidis

The Young Footballer of the Year winner picked up where he left off last season by opening his account in the first game of the season against Brisbane Roar on Sunday night.

Ikonomidis has gone from strength to strength in recent years and this was just another example as he coolly slotted the ball into the net of a Diego Castro pass. With a tight angle and under pressure from Brisbane defenders, the former Lazio forward made that goal look far easier than it was in reality.

Beyond the goal, Ikonomidis posed a menacing threat against the Roar defence as they struggled to keep up with his movement. His relationship with Castro looks to have grown even further and alongside Fornaroli, they are almost certainly the league’s most dangerous attacking line-up.

Although his feet are firmly on the ground, another season like last year’s and the Australian could be off to Europe for a deserved second crack.