Marco Kurz has finally won a game at AAMI Park and Melbourne Victory have finally won their second game of the season!
Broxham gets an early touch in Game 300 for Victory
Both Perth and Melbourne came in to tonight’s clash in poor form and looking to change their fortunes and get their respective 2019/20 campaigns back on track. Victory had extra motivation to get a positive result with Leigh Broxham playing in his 300th match for Melbourne Victory.
The night didn’t start off at all well for Victory losing Storm Roux about an hour before kick off due to illness and then his replacement Brandon Lauton was injured in the warmup. The right back job was given to Anthony Lesiotis who had never played right back. Maybe he lied about it on his resume when he applied for a job at Victory, who knows.
So much for keeping your eyes on the ball!
Once the game got underway, the first 20 minutes was a real Mexican standoff with neither side willing to take the initiative. The best chance came when the Glory worked the ball well around their box and Neil Kilkenny was teed-up but put his effort the bar but it had Lawrence Thomas reaching like a sick dog. Down the other end, Andrew Nabbout hit a searching cross looking Victory players in the box but it hung in the air and almost dropped beyond a scrambling Liam Reddy.
Victory were quite happy to let Perth have the ball and hit them on the counter and around the half hour mark the boys in blue took their chance when Nabbout got on the end of a cross from Adama Traore. Nabbout slide the ball back across goal for Robbie Kruse to just tap it in to give Melbourne a 1-0 lead when they went in to the rooms after the first 45.
Robbie Kruse celebrates either not being injured or scoring a goal, could go either way to be honest.
Perth started the better in the second half and were denied by the upright after a cross somehow found it’s way to Bruno Fall-and-rolly who hit it first time but just couldn’t guide it
Yes Leigh, we should be winning this comfortably but we just can;t finish
Perth would again be denied by the woodwork when Alex Grant‘s header from Kilkenny’s cross had beaten the Victory keeper but was just a little too high to find it’s way in. Perth would be left to Roux these missed chance as the Victory would hold on to record a 1-0 win for Leigh Broxham and reduce some of the pressure on Kurz and now put it on Tony Popovic and his Perth side.
