PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEKEND – MELBOURNE VICTORY

They took the lead early and even when they went down to ten men in a controversial decision, they remained resiliant and made sure of the result.

Inside the first 30 minutes, they were 3-0 up and if it weren’t for a stunning free kick by Dimitri Petratos and an own goal by James Donachie, the Victory would have been in a much more comfortable position for the rest of the match.

Losing Besart Berisha just before the hour mark didn’t make things easy either with ten men forced to defend the one goal lead. They did well though, with only four of Brisbane’s 13 shots being on target.

Victory weren’t as clinical as they normally are but having lost their striker for a third of the match, you can see why. Their defence was where they were able to make the difference though, putting in solid tackles and clearing the ball multiple times.

A stumble by Sydney FC has seen them come within five points of the league leaders and that’s with a game in hand. An away trip to Wellington Phoenix mid-week and Perth Glory next week sees Melbourne forced to play two away games in five days. They will have to be at their best but if this round was anything to go by, they will do well. This weekend was their weekend though. An excellent result from an excellent performance.

PLAYER OF THE WEEKEND – JAMES TROISI

He had a great game last week and a great game this week too. He has been one of the stand out’s this season and despite not being able to find the goal early on, he is now becoming deadly.

He scored the opening goal for Melbourne with an excellent free kick that was accurate and beautifully struck. Minutes later, he turned provider to Marco Rojas who also found the back of the net, pushing the ball into the net past the diving Michael Theo.

Troisi was forced to move back a lot more following Berisha’s red card and whilst he didn’t attack the goal as much as he had done in previous games. He took on players and was aggressive in leading the first line of defence.

He has been a machine for Melbourne Victory this season and his return has been a welcome one for Victory fan. He feeds the likes of Rojas and Berisha beautifully, giving them the ability to take on the defence. He is displaying the kind of form that made Juventus at one point, sit up and take notice.

Playing Wellington Phoenix mid-week, Troisi will need to keep leading the creativity in the forward line. Some changes could be made and Troisi may not even be guarenteed to start due to the tight schedule, hwoever with a performance like the one he gave this weekend, he will certainly be one of the key players to get them to the top of the table.

GOAL OF THE WEEKEND – DIMITRI PETRATOS

Often an underrated player in this Brisbane Roar side, Petratos has shown his quality time and time again this season. Still just 24 years of age, he is still a young player but he shows class and character beyond his years.

His free-kick against Melbourne Victory was very special. Not only did it give Brisbane a fighting chance in a game it looked like they might lose badly, it was an absolute stunner of a goal.

Well outside the box and with plenty of men in front of him, Petratos simply unleashed a curling rising shot that slammed into the net, leaving Lawrence Thomas stationary on his line. He used the outside of his boot to move the ball into the top right hand corner, using technique on par with world class players.

The ball continued to rise until the point it hit the net. The power, the accuracy and the curl would have many wondering how he was able to do it. Theres very few A-League players who’d be able to recreate that, even on the training park.

The way the ball moved and left Thomas stranded on his line shows his talent. Troisi had scored a neat little free kick just prior but Petratos made his look positively second rate. A stunner of a ball from distance to find the back of the net. What a goal of the weekend!

FLOP OF THE WEEKEND – MELBOURNE CITY

Melbourne City became just the second team to lose to Adelaide United this season after what was a poor performance by them. They allowed Adelaide to score twice with only two shots on target all game.City were dominating the game but allowed Adelaide back in at crucial points and consequently, lost the match.

Melbourne had more of everything in the game but left themselves open when it counted. Even after scoring in the 4th minute, they let the side one of the worst goal scoring teams, back into the game within six minutes.

Dylan McGowan was given far to much space inside the Melbourne City box after an extremely poor set piece defensive line. Given as much space as he wanted and with Dean Bouzanis hesitating, McGowan only had to knock it home into the corner.

The game went on for almost the full 90 with no more action although City were the ones putting in more attacks. Adelaide’s ‘striker’, Sergio Cirio, had one shot all game. No more effort was needed however as Adelaide would find the winner late in the game.

Countering quickly against a Melbourne City team that had overcommitted players forward, James Holland played a beautiful ball up to Sergi Guardiola near halfway who only had one player between him and the goal. Spying a run by Mark Ochieng with no one in front of him, Guardiola played his first touch into the middle of the park in front of Ochieng, who only had to dribble and finish neatly.

City had moved far too many players forward and were punished in the counter attack due to the space. This was City’s game to win and Adelaide didn’t play particularly well. The South Australian’s simply got lucky when City opened up.

No way that City should have lost this one and it will do their title dreams no good. They will play Central Coast Mariners next weekend and they’ll be hoping they can take their chances in that game. A big flop this weekend.

REFEREE WATCH

Well, there were some big errors this week from the referees and both may have had big effects on the result.

Besart Berisha was red carded after seemingly elbowing Luke DeVere in the head. The referee made the decision after a call from the linesman and Berisha was clearly angry at DeVere for acting. After seeing the video replay, there was no clear foul at all commited by Berisha and the red card has since been overturned by the Match Review Panel. DeVere will be closely scrutinised by many now but the referee’s assistant will be too after reporting the incident.

The second big incident came with Michael Zullo when he clearly handballed the ball inside the area. The referee and asssistant should have both seen it but none of them did. Several appeals were launched by the Wanderers players but to no avail. A let off for Sydney who may have lost their streak should the decision gone the other way. Tony Popovic was upset by the decision too. A poor miss by the referees in a big game.