How good is it to have the Isuzu UTE A-League Men?
There was the Grand Final rematch between Melbourne City and champions Western United at AAMI Park and a thrilling ‘Big Blue’ in Sydney.
Charlie Austin also flexed his muscles as Brisbane Roar returned to Suncorp Stadium, while there was plenty of drama in Wellington as Adelaide United snared a late point.
With a lot to dissect, here are the talking points from Round 1 of the Isuzu UTE A-League season.
The big boys are bringing the passion Down Under
Nani and Charlie Austin are the faces of the A-Leagues and both showed their intent in the opening round, as well as their emotional investment in their Victory and Roar campaigns.
A four-time Premier League champion, Nani didn’t disappoint on the big occasion, fuelling Victory to an enthralling 3-2 victory over rivals Sydney FC at the newly rebuilt Allianz Stadium on Saturday night.
Nani – the featured star in the first of 30 weekly A-Leagues All Access episodes taking fans behind the scenes of the A-League – produced a moment of brilliance to tee up Chris Ikonomidis with a game-breaking assist in rain-soaked Sydney.
Josh Brillante settled the nail-biting contest with seven minutes remaining, and afterwards, Nani lapped it up with his team-mates.
If there’s one thing apparent, even after just one round of ALM action, Nani and Austin are committed to the cause.
Brisbane’s showdown with Dwight Yorke’s Australia Cup champions Macarthur FC ended goalless, but it was Austin’s post-match interview that indicated the former Premier League striker’s willingness to inspire belief within the four walls of the club.
“Nah we battered them, mate,” Austin told Paramount+ post-match. “We battered them first half, battered them second half. They could have scored first half – yeah, our own mistake. The keeper makes a good save from me (in the second half).
“I think we (were) better, the better side overall and disappointing not to come away with three (points).”
Big Blue crowd shows why the ALM is so good
It was raining – raining a lot – at Allianz Stadium. And while it dampened the pitch, it didn’t dampen the atmosphere in Sydney on Saturday night.
Back at their newly revamped ground, Sydney fans were in full voice on a memorable night, even if the match didn’t go to plan for the new-look Sky Blues.
The 2022-23 season is promising to be a big one, with the pulsating, five-goal contest setting a benchmark for big occasions this term.
City were a team desperate for revenge
Melbourne City’s quest to claim back-to-back Premiership-Championship doubles was ruined by Western United in last season’s Grand Final.
On Friday night, City played like a team with a point to prove.
Led by star recruit Valon Berisha, in a man-of-the-match performance, and reigning Golden Boot winner Jamie Maclaren, City outclassed Western 2-1.
Even though he is new to City, former Lazio and RB Salzburg star Berisha was well aware of what was at stake in the battle between premiers and champions at AAMI Park.
“I want to win. I wanted the revenge for the team,” he said.
“They were talking about it all the time, and I said: ‘F****** hell, this is a big game for us, and I want to win it’.
“Every game is a big game, but of course when you think about for them, thinking about the season and losing the grand final, I just wanted the team help to win today.”
It was also a match to forget for Western’s star defender Leo Lacroix, who looked out of sorts.
After getting in the way of team-mate Tomoki Imai to help City take the lead, he gifted Maclaren a goal in the second half, which buried the contest.
Was it a red card at the ‘Cake tin’?
Yan Sasse made unwanted history in Wellington Phoenix’s 1-1 draw against Adelaide United at Sky Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The Phoenix’s Brazilian recruit was on the receiving end of the quickest dismissal of any debutant in Australian national league history – sent off after just 25 minutes in Wellington.
Sasse misjudged a high ball and was sent off for his reckless lunge on Adelaide’s Javi Lopez.
The 25-year-old attempted to win the ball with his outstretched left foot, but in doing so lost control of his right leg, which flew into Lopez at pace.
Referee Ben Abraham wasted no time whipping out his red card for the dangerous tackle, much to the frustration of Phoenix head coach Ufuk Talay.
“The call was a little bit too trigger-happy to pull out straight away,” Talay said.
“We’re not always going to agree with what the decisions are on the park. They saw it a different way … we just move on.”
Phoenix captain and goalkeeper Oli Sail told Sky Sport NZ: “Look, I can understand how the referee reached that verdict. It looks bad, especially when you slow it down.
“I can speak on behalf of Yan, I know for a fact there was no malicious intent in that. He slipped. That’s football. I have no problem with the referee’s decision to be honest.”
From the punditry angle, former Phoenix star Paul Ifill discussed the moment on Sky Sport NZ.
“I thought it was a yellow but would it have been enough for the VAR to say the referee made a grievous error? I’m not sure he did,” he said.
“I think he’s really hard done by. I’d certainly be screaming out from the bench if it was my team.”
Meet the newest Toure to grace the A-Leagues
Toure. It’s a name synonymous with Adelaide United.
First there was Al Hassan, who emerged at Coopers Stadium in 2019, then Mohamed as the youngest ever goalscorer in ALM history (15 years and 326 days) in 2020.
Al Hassan has since moved on to Macarthur, where he won this year’s Australia Cup. Mohamed is playing for Ligue 1’s Stade de Reims in France.
But there is still a Toure at Adelaide: 16-year-old Musa.
Musa Toure came off the bench to make his debut for the Reds against Wellington.
