Victory fail to down ten-man Sydney

In front of over 40,000 supporters at Eithad Stadium, Melbourne Victory failed to make use of their chances as they had to settle for a goalless draw against rivals Sydney.

It was a great start to the contest, as both sides had chances in the opening five minutes, Daniel Allsopp had an effort saved by Liam Reddy after great build up play by Marco Rojas, while Victory’s newly signed goalkeeper Ante Covic also pulled off two good saves from Mark Bridge.

Victory did most of the attacking in the opening twenty minutes, with Rojas bursting into the box and unleashing a strike which could only find the side netting. Sydney started to slowly get into the game on the half hour mark, when Bridge had an opportunity from a Jamieson free-kick, however his effort was well saved by Covic.

Only minutes later Sydney were given the opportunity to open the scoring after Bridge was brought down by Fabio to earn Sydney a penalty. Marquee signing Brett Emerton stepped up to take the penalty, however Covic was up to the challenge as he made a great save to his left. After a slow start to the contest, that would have given Sydney the perfect start to their A-League season.

Covic continued to have a great game as he saved magnificently from Bridge, while Melbourne’s own marquee signing Harry Kewell was also denied his first ever A-League goal as his header forced an amazing save by Reddy. The scores remained goalless going into the break.

We saw a different start to the second half, as both sides tried to hold possession and slow the tempo down, causing a lack of chances at goal. In the early stages star man Harry Kewell tried to open the scoring with a shot outside the box, however it was nothing more than a straight forward save for Sydney keeper Reddy.

Halfway through the second half, we witnessed a dull period in the game, as both sides struggled to really get into the game and cause any kind of threat for its opposition.

With fifteen minutes remaining in the contest, Bridge stupidly gets himself sent off after elbowing Roddy Vargas in the throat. The incident causes a small melee however it was nothing more than push and shove. With ten men, Sydney sat back for the remaining stage of the match, however it almost came back to haunt them as Allsopp was played through on goal by Rojas, but Reddy was up to the challenge and saves beautifully.

In the dying stages, Solorzano was given a golden opportunity to open the scoring but yet again keeper Liam Reddy came out on top and both sides had to settle for a goalless draw.


Melbourne Victory – Ante COVIC, Matthew FOSCHINI, FABIO, Grant BREBNER, Archie THOMPSON (Isaka CERNAK 68th min), Marco ROJAS, Rodrigo VARGAS, Billy CELESKI (Leigh BROXHAM 55th min), Daniel ALLSOPP (SOLORZANO 81ST min), Harry KEWELL, Adrian LEIJER. Subs not used – Lawrence THOMAS (GK).

Sydney FC – Liam REDDY, Jamie COYNE (Sebastian RYALL 86th min), Pascal BOSSCHART, Michael BEAUCHAMP, Brett EMERTON, Nick CARLE ( Bruno CAZARINE 90TH min), Shannon COLE, Terry MCFLYNN, Terry ANTONIS, Mark BRIDGE, Scott JAMIESON. Subs not used - Hirofumi MORIYASU, Ivan NECEVSKI (GK).

The Football Sack 'Player of the Year' points
3 Liam Reddy
2 Ante Covic
1 Marco Rojas