MELBOURNE VICTORY

Lawrence Thomas - 7.5  

It's easy to forget on his quieter nights just how far he's come, such a solid player with the ball at his feet, keeping the Victory defence organised and the ball moving intelligently. No wonder he's talking Socceroos.   

Storm Roux - 7.5

Made fantastic overlapping runs, pegged good passes, tracked back: silent performer.      

Corey Brown - 6.5

Solid defensively, Victory focused their efforts down the right leaving him slightly out of action.  

Thomas Deng - 8

Strong physical presence, predictably dominant in dealing with Adelaide's aerial balls.

Georg Niedermeier - N/A

Replaced injured with the interesting substitution of James Troisi, not exactly like for like. Minutes later Adelaide nearly scored from a corner, but the decision paid off in the second half.    

Carl Valeri - 7

Overall a solid display, but he makes a few interesting captain's contributions. Completely outdone by Michael Jakobsen late in the first half, bewildered by the fellow defender’s movement from a corner, ended up embarrassing himself but Adelaide couldn’t capitalise.

Keisuke Honda - 8  

Like all great marquees, makes some of the players around him look better than they are, getting them out of jail, playing perfectly weighted balls.

Still, tried to do a little too much himself at times and was beaten multiple times by a rampant defensive performance from Craig Goodwin.

Terry Antonis - 8

What went wrong in Greece? He has fantastic delivery and he's consistently continuing a brilliant run of form. Offers a lot of poise and often stands out against opposition midfields.

Leigh Broxham - 7

Pint-sized big hitter, always throwing himself around.

Ola Toivonen - 9

Flashy once again, scored and assisted, hugely involved. Massive part in the first goal, rifled home the second - showing greater influence by the week.   

Kosta Barbarouses - 7.5

Hints of poor decision making in dangerous positions, but atoned with a cool rebound from Toivonen's header for the opener.

SUBS

James Troisi - 7

Heavily involved, appeared slightly sluggish at times in the first half but made some fantastic interceptions to impress Victory on the match in the second. Subbed on, subbed off.

Josh Hope - 6

Shows a lot of potential and a lot of inexperience simultaneously.

Rahmat Akhbari - N/A

 

ADELAIDE UNITED

Paul Izzo - 8

Some fantastic saves. Dealt with Toivonen’s early curling effort perfectly and made a similar effort in the second, becoming understandably frustrated at his defence's inability to match his focus.

Michael Marrone - 7

Cracking header rifled off the bar on 15 minutes, another solid display. 

Scott Galloway - 5 

Handballed in his own box on the 26th minute, but it didn’t appear to be intentional. Very tough call, understandable that the VAR didn’t give it. It seemed to rattle him, he made a few mistakes after that.

Jordan Elsey - 7

Very strong and rounded performance for 75 minutes, then it all fell apart for every Adelaide defender, with a few niggly errors in there himself.

He's shown the potential to be one of the league's best centrebacks in the past, so it's tempting to hold him to a higher standard than the one he delivers on a regular basis.

Michael Jakobsen - 7  

Although he can switch off at times and be a tad over-aggressive, he has a fantastic and contradictory calming effect on his fellow defenders, and is proving to be an immense signing for the Reds.    

Vince Lia - 7.5

Playing slightly out of position, retained possession intelligently and had a huge effect on Adelaide's stability. Generally punching above his weight in Adelaide, and not afraid of sticking it to a few opposition players for good measures.     

Ryan Strain - 7

Pushed forward dangerously as always, becoming a fantastic utility option for Adelaide. Experience and calm cohesion belies his years.

Isaías - 6.5

Silky smooth on the ball, final passes were excellent, but he lost control of the midfield completely towards the end.     

Craig Goodwin - 7  

Not his most involved performance, but played a larger role defensively with aplomb. Was unable to transition this effectively and consistently into an attacking outlet.

Apostolos Stamatelopoulos - 6

Missed a clear chance in the second half when heavily under pressure, but worked incredibly hard over the match. 

Ben Halloran - 6

Reasonably involved, couldn't do anything with an opening on the 73rd minute, failing to chip Thomas. Played a big role pressing from the front.

SUBS

Nikola Mileusnic - 6

Almost scored and almost knocked out Lawrence Thomas in the process from a miss-hit cross.

Carlo Armiento - 7

Adelaide City product making his A-League debut, had a few fantastic touches to remember.

Nathan Kostandopolous - 5

Few loose balls, couldn't make an impact.