A League - Week 8 Review

The two form teams of the league met at AAMI Park on Friday in front of twenty two thousand fans and Melbourne Victory claimed the spoils with a 3-2 win, all of the goals arrived in an action packed first half.

Adelaide didn’t help their cause with two own goals conceded by Nigel Boogaard & Sergio Cirio. Sandwiched in between those Adelaide levelled through Awer Mabil in the fourteenth minute. Victory took a 3-1 lead when Fahid Ben Khalfallah crossed to an unmarked Leigh Broxham to nod home. The visitors gave themselves hope of a second half come back with a thirty seventh minute penalty from Marcelo Carrusca. The frenetic pace of the first half couldn’t be repeated in the second and Victory saw out the game to cement their championship credentials.

Brisbane Roar and Perth Glory were next up at Suncorp Stadium, Frans Thijssen took the reins at the Roar for the first time against Perth, older readers may remember him from Bobby Robson’s great Ipswich team of the early 1980’s. Surely top of the ladder Perth would see off the near bottom Brisbane and they set off in the right vein. Taking a 1-0 lead after only six minutes through Dino Djulbic when he volleyed home a corner.

To their credit the Roar didn’t crumble and dominated possession against their table topping opponents but lacked cutting edge until the introduction of Mensur Kurtishi up front. They got back on level terms with just four minutes left with a lovely team goal finished by Henrique. So maybe brighter things await Roar fans after their poor start to the season and maybe Thijssen is the man to turn things around.

The first of two local derbies this weekend took place at the Pirtek Stadium when Western Sydney Wanderers entertained Sydney FC in front of nineteen thousand spectators, honours ended even as the local rivals played out a 1-1 draw. A dominant first half performance from Wanderers was rewarded with the opening goal in the thirtieth minute when Tomi Juric lashed home a loose ball from close range.

Their joy was short lived and dreams of a first league win this season snuffed out when a great individual goal from Bernie Ibini levelled matters just four minutes later. A Wanderers corner was hoofed clear into the Wanderers half Ibini won the foot race for the ball wide right and carried forward at pace before cutting inside across the edge of the box and lashing home left footed to the roof of the net giving Ante Covic no chance. So Wanderers remain bottom of the ladder and Sydney cemented their position as fourth in the league.

Although most pundits would have tipped a Wellington Phoenix win in their match with Melbourne City few if any would have foreseen the magnitude of the 5-1 result they claimed. This result has to call into doubt the City players heart for the fight that lays ahead of them.

Yet again City opened brightly but dropped their heads after conceding and defensively they are all at sea. For the record the Phoenix goals came from a Nathan Burns hat trick, the first in Phoenix A league history, and goals for Roly Bonevacia and an absolute belter from Roy Krishna. David Williams claimed a consolation penalty for the Victorian team and Damien Duff again put a shift in but many of his colleagues aren’t earning their wages at the moment.

The second local derby of the weekend gave us Newcastle Jets against Central Coast Mariners and again bragging rights were shared in a 1-1 draw. Jets opened the scoring in the forty eighth minute with David Carney again heavily involved in the Jets goal. His ball into the danger area was sliced from one defender onto another before breaking to Edson Montano who despatched with minimum fuss.

Mariners got back on level terms after fifty five minutes when a Michael Neill cross from the left was turned home at the near post by Richard Vernes. Matt Sim had a glorious chance to claim all three points for the Mariners with practically the last kick of the match but placed his effort too close to Ben Kennedy who turned his shot away for a fruitless corner. So Jets continue to search for their first win of the season and only Western Sydney Wanderers are keeping them off of the foot of the ladder.

Mentioning the Wanderers they finally caught up with the last of their held over games from their glorious run in the Asian Champions League when they hosted Brisbane Roar at the Pirtek Stadium on Wednesday evening. How different things have been for Wanderers in the domestic competition when compared to their run through Asia and again they found things go against them when Roar claimed the points with a 1-0 victory.

Henrique slotted home his sixth goal of the season with a fifth minute penalty when Mensur Kurtishi went down under the challenge of Seyi Adeleke. Wanderers should have nicked a point when Nikita Rukavytsya went on a Giggs-esque run slaloming through defenders before crashing his shot onto the cross bar. So that is four points for Frans Thijssen from two games while Wanderers continue to prop up the league.

What have we learned?

The league is shaping up into a pair of mini leagues with Perth, Victory, Adelaide and Sydney opening up a clear gap over the rest.

Maybe the rumours that Mike Mulvey had lost the Roar dressing room could be true when the same group of players can turn in two undefeated performances after barely meeting their new coach.

This week’s fixtures

Sydney FC v Perth Glory

Central Coast Mariners v Melbourne Victory

Newcastle Jets v Wellington Phoenix

Adelaide United v Western Sydney Wanderers

Melbourne City v Brisbane Roar