A League - Week 7 Review

The first game of the weekend was Melbourne Victory v Brisbane Roar in front of twenty three thousand fans at the Etihad stadium. It would prove to be Roar coach Mike Mulvey’s last assignment before the board thanked him for his efforts and showed him the door.

Victory claimed a 1-0 win courtesy of an own goal from Brisbane defender Jade North in the seventy seventh minute. The goal rather summed up the game and spoke volumes for the Roar season so far. A Ben Fahid Khalfallah free kick from the right glanced off the head of former Brisbane centre forward Besart Berisha before striking North on the side and finishing in the net past a flat footed Jamie Young.

Prior to that it had been a cagey affair with Victory the dominant team but Roar providing stubborn opposition. Victory had other chances including a 1950’s type challenge on Jamie Young that resulted in both he and the ball ending in the net which was unsurprisingly ruled out. So Victory maintained their unbeaten start to the season and stay up with the pace setters at the upper end of the ladder.

Also on Friday evening Perth Glory took on Wellington Phoenix as the Western Australian outfit aimed to keep their position at the top of the league. Mission accomplished as Glory ran out 2-1 winners to open up a temporary three point gap at the top but it wasn’t all plain sailing. They got off to an ideal start when they took the lead after just two minutes, young forward Danny Da Silva bundled home from a Youssouf Hersi centre from the right.

Irish striker Andy Keogh notched his fifth league goal of the campaign on sixty minutes when he slid in a Josh Risdon cross at the far post. The Glory evening was about to take a turn for the worse when substitute Ruben Zadkovic was dismissed just seventeen seconds after taking to the field. In fairness he can have few complaints as his over the top challenge warranted red regardless of how long he had been in the action.

Phoenix took their numerical superiority as a signal to press on and got a late goal back from the penalty spot through Roy Krishna in the eighty fifth minute. Nathan Burns pulled a chance agonising wide and yet again Phoenix lost on the road but remain in the top half of the table.

Western Sydney Wanderers entertaining Newcastle Jets were next up, Wanderers must have viewed this as a great chance to get their first three points of the season following the Jets abject performance last week. However Newcastle showed admirable spirit on their way to claiming a 1-1 draw at the Pirtek Stadium. Wanderers opened the scoring on twelve minutes when a corner from Vitor Saba picked out the unmarked Tomi Juric beyond the far post and his smart volley back across goal perfectly dissected goalkeeper and defenders to nestle in the net.

You would have been forgiven for thinking that the flood gates would open after that but Newcastle fought their way back in and equalised fifteen minutes later when a deft chipped pass from David Carney picked out Marcos Flores unmarked around the penalty spot, he controlled and neatly finished past a helpless Ante Covic. Flores also struck the bar with a thundering volley after a weak clearance fell to him on the edge of the box. So Wanderers remain in last place on the ladder and the glory of being Asian champions is fast losing its shine while the Jets stay just one place above them.

The big game of the weekend, if not the biggest crowd, had Sydney FC visiting Melbourne City and yet again the evening ended in frustration for the home fans as the visitors claimed a 2-1 win. It was a victory earned on the back of organisation and perspiration not to mention a helping hand from the City defence.

Marc Janko opened the scoring in the tenth minute when a Bernie Ibini centre evaded Andrew Redmayne in the City goal to present the Austrian skipper with a relatively easy finish. He doubled his account on eighty minutes when a shocking pass across the back four from Rob Wielaert presented Janko with a free run on goal and he never looked like missing. Janko also hit the wood work and missed another glorious chance as Sydney thrived playing on the break.

Things got interesting for City in the last few minutes as first a Damien Duff cross picked out Erik Paartalu who sent a looping header into the top corner. Duffer should also have earned a penalty when Sydney keeper Janjetovic made sure that the winger did not pass when trying to reach a loose ball. Inexplicably the ref saw fit to award a free kick against Duff for reasons best known to himself. Just a minute after the City goal Milos Dimitrejavic received a second yellow card for apparently time wasting on a Sydney corner that he had nothing to do with.

Sydney will surely lodge an appeal and the ref will have to come up with a decent cover story to dig himself out of this one. Sydney saw out the remaining two minutes to stay in touch with the league leaders.

Sunday’s entertainment was provided by Central Coast Mariners hosting the league’s most attractive team to watch in the form of Adelaide United. The South Australians ran out 2-0 winners as the Mariners attempts at playing on the break though at home back fired on them. A brace from Pablo Sanchez in the thirty ninth and forty second minutes were enough to see Adelaide home and secure second place on the ladder.

The first had a touch of fortune about it as a right wing cross from Fabio Ferreira took a huge deflection to loop into the air, wrong foot everyone and leave Sanchez with a simple far post finish. The second was more like what we are used to seeing from Adelaide as their buccaneering full back Tarek Elrich made a great run through the inside left channel leaving Mariners defenders floundering in his wake. His centre was partially cleared by the retreating Michael Neill but fell kindly for Sanchez to calmly sidefoot home the chance.

What have we learned?

How much grace does winning the league title buy a head coach? Exactly six league matches in Brisbane.

The outstanding work of Adelaide full back Tarek Elrich is beyond form and is now looking like class, surely scouts from the second tier of European football are monitoring his progress.

Next week’s fixtures

Melbourne Victory v Adelaide United

Brisbane Roar v Perth Glory

Western Sydney Wanderers v Sydney FC

Wellington Phoenix v Melbourne City

Newcastle Jets v Central Coast Mariners