MVFC Blog

It was shaping up to be a rather woeful performance by the Melbourne Victory, until Carlos Hernandez picked up a second yellow in the 57th minute. Down to ten men for the third week in the row, and the Victory suddenly kicks it up half a dozen notches.

This time there was no narrow victory or lucky escape at the death. Queensland’s young subs, Tahj Minniecon and Michael Zullo, silenced Melbourne with two goals in the last ten minutes.

The Roar deserved the three points. The A-League scoreboard for the game shows a single attempt on target by Melbourne, compared with Queensland’s seven. For the vast majority of the game, the visitors were dominant. Melbourne only looked like creating something when it went down to ten men.

Speaking of which, I am yet to comprehend why Carlos Hernandez was sent off. A rather poor video on YouTube shows the incident. I see a Queensland Roar player with a hand raised, holding Hernandez back; I see Hernandez going down. Simulation is the only possible explanation for the yellow card, but it’s an incredibly soft yellow. Did Ben Williams even realize he was giving Hernandez a red when he pulled out the yellow card? He certainly took his time to show the red card.

Ok, time to stop ranting.

The loss does not affect Melbourne’s position at the top of the ladder (not bad for a team that’s finished half its games with a man down), but it does allow Adelaide United, the Central Coast Mariner and the Queensland Roar to step within striking distance of the top. Sydney FC retain second spot after losing to the Wellington Phoenix.

This weekend’s clash against the Perth Glory will be a major test of the quality of Melbourne’s depth. As the Herald Sun pointed out yesterday, Melbourne have just sixteen fit players from which to pick their squad. Trying times ahead.

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