Melbourne  took a 2-1 lead out of the first leg of the major semi-final at Etihad Stadium last night, just four days after conceding the Premiers' Plate with a 2-0 loss to Sydney a the SFS.

Bbut the defending champions hit back with a vengeance with an inspired performance to take the advantage in the two leg tie against the Sky Blues.

Merrick credited Muscat for lifting the team, which went into the match without three first-choice players: Archie Thompson, Matthew Kemp and Robbie Kruse, all of whom are injured.

"He's a huge influence. Adrian (Leijer) and Rody (Vargas) game seems to lift when he's around," said Merrick. "They're more confident of attacking the ball in front, because they know that Kevin reads the play well.

"If they hadn't judged it right he's there."

Muscat's influence on the match was more than just in the defensive half of the park. He set up Nik Mrdja's first goal on 16 minutes with a magnificent long pass, while many of Victory's forward thrusts were started by the veteran defender.

"It was a good win, but I thought we deserved it," said Merrick. "More on our first half performance, I thought we really created some quality football in the first half.

"Kevin was a huge addition, his passing out of the backline was first class."

Muscat returned to the starting line-up after a two-week suspension. He admitted that a two-week break on the eve of the finals and the Asian Champions League could prove a blessing in disguise.

"Adam Basil the conditioning coach, took into account the run of games we've got and my training has been managed accordingly," said Muscat.

"It wasn't just about being fit and prepared tonight, it was about getting fit for the next three months."

Forever looking for different motivations to take into contests like the one against Sydney, Muscat said the fact that Melbourne had failed to break Sydney's defence this season acted as a spur for the team.

He added: "I think it's probably your job to pick up the negatives that we haven't scored against Sydney, and that's a fact, so you write about it.

"But tonight we performed so well and we created a number of chances, we really got a hop on them early. The only thing I'm disappointed with is that we conceded a soft goal.

"We'll go into the next tie with a lot of confidence after that. We can stop reading about our inability to score against them."

While Sydney's goal may have irked Muscat, who played a major part in deflecting it into the net, Merrick is not concerned about the away goal, saying his side would play attacking football in the second leg.

"We showed we can shut up the shop as good as anyone, we just don't play that style of football week in, week out or we wouldn't have a crowd," he said.

"The away goal doesn't bother me at all. It's about winning games and we'll go up to Sydney to win the game. I'm convinced we'll score at least one up there which will negate theirs. It's not a problem for me.

"We went out there and we attacked and that's what we'll do. They can start worrying about goals at home."