It could have been three points. It should have been.
But a late surge from the Wellington Phoenix turned a two-goal advantage into a tight draw where the Victory struggled to defend against an onslaught of Phoenix attack.
It was a disappointing result, but Melbourne’s performance was far from disappointing. The three pronged attack of Hernandez, Allsopp and Archie finally seemed to click. Hernandez isn’t a runner like Fred, but his skilled passes can dissect defences in seconds - this was made abundantly clear yesterday. Melbourne could have had more than two goals. Then again, so could the Wellington Phoenix, who missed a penalty in the 1st half and came painfully close to scoring a winner in the last 10 minutes.
Much like its last game against the Phoenix, Melbourne started strong. They were a goal ahead at half time thanks to a Muscat penalty. 15 minutes into the 2nd half and Danny Allsopp had doubled their lead, after a great run from Joe Keenan. But with 15 minutes to go, Melbourne unravelled. The addition of Felipe to the Phoenix side seemed to give the home team an extra burst.
A rather ominous pattern seems to be emerging. In the pre-season match with the Perth Glory, Melbourne went a goal ahead in the 1st half, but ended up losing 2-1. The same thing happened the next week when Melbourne played Wellington. This time, the Victory went two goals up and were able to hang on for a draw. But once again, the team has squandered a lead.
Is complacency our problem? Fitness?
What do you think?
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2 responses so far ↓
1 Peter // Aug 27, 2007 at 10:12 am
I’d say fitness. In particular Hernandez and Thompson became far less influential as the game went on. Those wouldn’t be natural choices to sub off during a game and it was only through necessity that they had to leave. Without them, Melbourne looked a lot less dangerous up front.
That front three of Allsopp, Hernandez and Thompson is lethal! As fitness improves, those three will tear every A-league defence apart.
2 Neil // Aug 27, 2007 at 10:34 am
I missed the first half of the game so didn’t see the full extent of the interplay between Hernandez, Allsopp and Thompson - its good to hear that they are finally starting to work well together. I would have to agree with Peter and say fitness is the problem. Good signs though - and the efforts from Keenan that included the lead up to the second goal was impressive. Can’t wait for next week.
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