Mandi — 8

Calm and assured with his distribution as he was frequently found by his teammates to dictate proceedings. Did well to release the likes of Singh and Krishna to counter attack.

Alex Rufer — 7

An all-round strong performance, putting in some bruising tackles and maintaining a disciplined defensive focus throughout.

Sarpreet Singh — 8

Following tonight, Mark Bosnich’s claim that Singh is the current best player in the A-League (based on form) has been further justified.

Found space so confidently and with little indecision in his play, was a positive influence all night long. Notched an assist in a similar fashion to his marauding run and pass to Williams to finish.

David Williams — 8

Having been limited to substitute appearances, Williams forced himself in to the eleven against the Victory following a delightful finish against Roar last week, replacing Nathan Burns and appearing rather more confident in front of goal than Burns.

Similarly scored a lovely curler from just outside the box tonight, taking on Storm Roux and finishing with aplomb.

Roy Krishna — 7

The Phoenix servant has been exceptional in recent weeks and was a significant nuisance for the Victory players all through the 90 minutes.

Unafraid to take on the defence, but was more often than firing blanks or straight in to a Victory player. Saw a few efforts go just wide of the post.

Substitutes

Nathan Burns — 5

Did little off the bench, not utilising his pace well enough. Clearly lacks confidence, which is a sad sight considering he was part of the Socceroos’ Asian Cup winning squad almost four years ago.

Michal Kopczynski — 8

Simply exceptional off the bench, tackling powerfully and intelligently, especially late on as he prevented a potential Antonis winner.

Ryan Lowry — N/A

Brought on to wind down the clock.