Melbourne Victory hitman Besart Berisha became the first player to score 100 A-League goals but said he didn't let the pressure of the history-making moment get to him.
Berisha scored in the 80th minute in a 1-0 win over campaign strugglers Central Coast Mariners in their final match of the regular season at AAMI Park on Friday night..
After Jai Ingham teed up the Kosovan, fans rose to their feet and the striker shared hugs with his teammate and coach Kevin Muscat.
“I’ve been through in Europe and I’ve been in tough moments in my career, you learn, take it with you and know how to deal with that,” Berisha said post-match.
“Pressure is something at the moment that I’m really good at absorbing and very happy with the way I go. I work really hard for that, it’s not just ‘you can do it’ a game or two."
It has been a huge season for the mercurial 31-year-old who broke Archie Thompson’s A-League goal scoring record and made his national debut for new country Kosovo.
Despite leading the Golden Boot race on 19 goals, Berisha has come under close scrutiny and criticism this season as Victory's main goal source, but has dealt with it well.
“It’s a long journey, you have to learn and grow up as a football player, the pressure for me not really effective," he said.
“It feels good of course, I’m very happy for that. I worked really hard to achieve this and I believe what I do, I work hard and I’m very happy at the moment with the way it goes, I have to say that it’s been hard but never give up.”
Victory finished second on the table and now have a week off to await who they meet in the finals.
Berisha's goal record seems hard to overhaul with Shane Smeltz, who holds 92 A-League goals, leaving Wellington Phoenix for Indonesia.
Sydney FC striker Alex Brosque is the closest current A-League player to Berisha’s record on 62 goals.
The Big V hadn’t scored in a month before defeating the Mariners, but Berisha said critics only fired him up personally and for the team.
“If critics are there, it’s a sign where I work even harder and make sure I do the right thing and focus even more,” he said.
“That’s what the most important thing is for me in the A-League, I always make sure I work hard, keep believing and all this hard work pays off.
“I know we’ve been a bit rusty in the last two games but I believe winning the last game before the finals and clean sheet is so important.
"I believe that we are a great team and we’ve played a good season finishing second. I believe in this team so much and can achieve great things this year.”
Muscat congratulated Berisha who he has backed up this season consistently when under-fire.
“Every time this week, on FoxSports there’s a trailer of his past goals and the guys show me social media and it’s about his 100th goal,” Muscat said.
“Now he’s got that out of his system, he can move on… it’s a wonderful achievement and deserves all the plaudits he gets.
“I haven’t spoken to him about, I can see from his demeanour and the way he is during the week. Naturally it’s not really spoken about, but around him it must be spoken about wherever he goes.”
Muscat acknowledged his team has a lot to do and described the game against the Mariners as a “snorefest” at times with dead balls.
But the Victory boss was satisfied with their season finishing on 49-points.
“I’m just happy finals are here, we can get on with the finals now, again just sense there was a great deal of tension out there tonight,” he said.
“Alan (Baro) doesn’t pick up his eighth booking, Bes gets his 100th goal and we picked up our 15th win so there was a lot of good to come out of it.”
Main Photo: An ecstatic Berisha celebrates with the fans and teammates after the Mariners win. Ashley Perez Photography
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