Melbourne Victory down Gold Coast in five-goal thriller

Under-fire boss Mehmet Durakovic can sleep easy for at least another week as his Melbourne Victory defeated Gold Coast United 3-2 in a thrilling five-goal contest which saw three penalties, eight yellow cards and one red card.

It was a dream start for the home side, as the Victory were rewarded a first minute penalty after Archie Thompson was clumsily tackled by Paul Beekmans. Marquee signing Harry Kewell stepped up to the occasion to score his first ever Hyundai A-League goal. The visitors seemed rattled as Victory continued to maintain much of the attack and possession however they could not turn the possession into chances.

Gold Coast’s first real chance came in the 20th minute, as a Mitch Bevan free-kick was headed out by Rodrigo Vargas only to reach the path of the unmarked Jonas Salley who’s low shot came off the post.
Two minutes later, the Victory doubled their lead as they were awarded another penalty after a late tackle on Marco Rojas by Salley. This time it was Carlos Hernandez who stepped up to take the penalty and score Victory’s second as Glen Moss guessed the right way however could not get his fingers to it.

It was all smooth sailing for the blue side of Melbourne until the 33rd minute when Vargas lunged in with a two footed tackle on Gol-Gol Mebrahtu, which saw him earn a red card and reduce his side to ten men.

The red card saw the visitors get back into the game, gaining more possession and trying to find their first goal of the afternoon. Their efforts paid off in the first minute of injury time as Mebrahtu earned his side a penalty after a clumsy tackle by Diogo Ferreira. Substitute Dylan Macallister stepped up, scored and cut the margin to one with the final kick of the half.

It only took the visitors three minutes of the second half to equalise, as Ben Halloran delivered a low cross into the area following a great run down the right which found the unmarked Peter Jungschlager who without hesitation slotted it past Ante Covic.

The afternoon got worse for the Victory as Fabio went down in the 58th minute with what looked like a serious ankle injury.

With the introduction of Grant Brebner for Rojas, it seemed Durakovic was satisfied to play for the draw, or so it seemed until the home side started to create more opportunities. In the 74th minute Thompson delivered a great through ball to Billy Celeski whose shot was saved by the leg of Moss before hitting the upright.
With 11 minutes remaining, Victory took the lead courtesy of a Hernandez header after the midfielder leaped highest to connect with a pin-point cross by Thompson, much to the delight of the home faithful.

With the full-time whistle looming, Gold Coast had a golden opportunity to score a dramatic equaliser as a Kristian Rees header hit the post, while Victory also had a chance of their own when Thompson was left one on one with Moss, his sweetly struck effort seemed to be going in for Victory’s fourth only to be denied by the post.
At the full-time whistle, Victory won only their second game of the season to leave Gold Coast in the dreaded bottom position.

The Football Sack Player of the Year votes -

1- Dylan Macallister
2- Billy Celeski
3- Carlos Hernandez

MELBOURNE VICTORY 3–2 GOLD COAST UNITED (2-1HT)

MV – Ante COVIC, FABIO (Tomislav PONDELJAK 60th min), Leigh BROXHAM, Archie THOMPSON, Marco ROJAS (Grant BREBNER 72nd min), Rodrigo VARGAS, Diogo FERREIRA, Billy CELESKI, Carlos HERNANDEZ, Harry KEWELL (Isaka CERNAK 60th min), Adrian LEIJER. Subs not used – Lawrence THOMAS.

GCU – Glen MOSS, Michael THWAITE, Kristian REES, Paul BEEKMANS (Chris HAROLD 80th min), Golgol MEBRAHTU, Ben HALLORAN, Adamam TRAORE (Ante ROZIC 83rd min), Maceo RIGTERS, Peter JUNGSCHLAGER, Jonas SALLEY, Mitch BEVAN (Dylan MACALLISTER 26th min). Subs not used – Jerrad TYSON.