There were four A-Leagues fixtures on the agenda as the February Football Frenzy turns up a notch on Saturday, February 12.
KEEPUP followed along LIVE to bring you all the goals, highlights, up to date scores and biggest talking points from a smorgasbord of A-Leagues entertainment.
REACTION on KEEPUP’s live feed comes after game-by-game coverage of:
- Wellington Phoenix 1-1 Adelaide United
Isuzu UTE A-League, Netstrata Jubilee Stadium. REPORT
- Melbourne Victory 5-0 Western Sydney Wanderers
Liberty A-League, AAMI Park. REPORT
- Melbourne Victory 1-2 Newcastle Jets
Isuzu UTE A-League, AAMI Park. REPORT
- Sydney FC 1-1 Western United
Isuzu UTE A-League, Netstrata Jubilee Stadium. REPORT
REACTION
Thompson – ‘Soft’ penalty, Brillante red ‘changed the whole game’
The decisions were ‘soft’, but the fouls were there – that was the game in a nutshell for Paramount+ presenter Archie Thompson looking back on the 2-1 Newcastle Jets win over Melbourne Victory on a tense night at AAMI Park.
Leading 1-0 at the break, calamity struck for Victory in the second half when captain Josh Brillante saw red for his second yellow card offence of the evening, dragging Angus Thurgate down on the turn by the halfway line after leaving a late challenge in on Kostandinos Grozos in the first 45.
It spurred the Jets toward a stirring come-from-behind win on the road, with the all important second goal coming from the penalty spot through a red-hot Beka Mikeltadze, who netted his seventh goal of the season.
“I would’ve thought if the referee maybe had known Josh Brillante was on a yellow card already – even (the first one) I thought was a little bit soft – but knowing he was on a card maybe he (could’ve) been a bit more lenient saying: ‘Okay, that’s maybe going to change the complexion of the game’,” Thompson said.
“But again, in saying that, that’s a yellow card offence. If you bring him down like that when they’re in an attacking situation you’re always going to get penalised.
“That just changed the whole game.”
The legitimacy of the foul from Brendam Hamill on Olivier Boumal, meanwhile – which resulted in the all-important Jets spot kick in the second half – will be contested long through the night and into next week.
Thompson saw a foul – albeit a soft one – which ultimately extended Victory’s winless run in the league to four games.
“The penalty decision was a soft one,” Thompson said post-match. “But if you make a challenge in behind the attacking player, you’re going to get a penalty. Unfortunately things just didn’t go well for Victory.
“It would be frustrating for Tony Popovic because he prides himself on structurally being defensively strong, being an ex-defender himself. To maybe concede the goals like they have would be very disappointing.
“From the manager’s point of view and the players’ too, you want to see out a match of 90 minutes when you’re not losing any concentration. At the moment in the league that’s what’s kind of been the achilles heel of Melbourne Victory over the last few weeks.
“It needs to change because the other teams are starting to pick up points, and you don’t want to be chasing results. You want to be performing and getting results, not relying on (others).”
‘Back in form’ Cooney-Cross a danger sign for title rivals
Sydney FC have spent the entirety of the 2021/22 Liberty A-League season in the box seat for the premiers plate, but the league-leaders should be wary of a surging Victory outfit flying up the table thanks to the resurgence of rising Matildas star Kyra Cooney-Cross.
The Victory attacking midfielder turns 20 on Tuesday. She capped off a breakout season in 2020/21 with the Young Player of the Year award but has struggled to get get going in the new campaign, with her limited minutes for the Matildas at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in January doing little to improve her confidence.
But since returning from international duty Cooney-Cross has hit her stride, culminating with her best performance of the season to date against the Wanderers on Saturday afternoon.
Cooney-Cross set up Catherine Zimmerman to score on two occasions, played a perfect through pass which split the Wanderers defence in half for MelindaJ Barbieri’s first-half strike, and got her name on the scoreboard herself with her first goal in the 2021/22 Liberty A-League campaign.
“I think it was a better performance from the girls this week,” Cooney-Cross told Paramount+ post-match.
“We’ve been a bit rusty in the last couple of weeks and we’ve been playing bottom teams, which wasn’t good enough.
“We had a team meeting during the week, we put a few things together and said things we needed to be better at, and I think the girls did that today.
“(Head coach Jeff Hopkins) did say to us we need to keep finishing because last week against Newcastle wasn’t good enough, so we did that today.”
Last season Sydney FC finished on top of the table, but Cooney-Cross helped the Victory attack the finals with menace, and ultimately stun the Sky Blues on the way to becoming champions.
Ante Juric’s side will be wary of history repeating, and will keep a very close eye on the progress of Victory and their rising star.
“What we’ve seen from Cooney-Cross this afternoon is just a player who is growing back into form and confidence after a few appearances and some time away with the Matildas where, you have to say, she wasn’t in her best form,” said Paramount+ commentator Grace Gill during the second half of Victory’s 5-0 display.
“To see a player like that build (her confidence) back up… I think that’s really important not only for Melbourne Victory but for Kyra as a player.”
Georgievski – Adelaide’s ‘annoying’ trait a ‘common theme’ in ALM season
They’ve quickly become notorious for the late comeback goal – and it’s the driving factor behind Adelaide United’s surge into the top six on the Isuzu UTE A-League table.
The Reds left it late to snatch a point from the grasp of Wellington Phoenix on Saturday afternoon, with Bernardo Oliveira scoring a stoppage-time header in a 1-1 draw at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium.
MATCH REPORT: WELLINGTON PHOENIX 1-1 ADELAIDE UNITED
It’s the fifth time this season an Adelaide goal in the last 10 minutes of play has altered the end result and earned Carl Veart’s side points; on four occasions Adelaide have managed to turn a loss into a draw, with the fifth fixture seeing the Reds turn defeat into victory with two late goals in a 2-1 win over Newcastle Jets on the road.
In total the Reds have accrued seven points from losing positions with late goals this season.
“You can never write off an Adelaide United team,” said Tarek Elrich to fellow Paramount+ analyst Daniel Georgievski post-match. “Daniel, you know, you’ve played against them a number of times. They always find a way.”
Georgievski replied. “They’re annoying, to be honest – that’s probably the perfect word to use.
“They’re annoying in a good way if you’re an Adelaide United fan, because even if you put your head down for a second (they’ll surprise you).”
Elrich continued: “It’s their history, all season they’ve been doing it. It’s just a common theme: they start games really slow, I don’t know what the reason is behind it but they are a team that keep fighting.
“They’ve got a lot of young boys, but I put it down to (this): you’ve got Isaias and Juande… they really control that team. They control the tempo and for me they’re the ones that push the momentum.”
The late scorer for the Reds on this occasion was Bernardo, the teenage son of Reds legend Cássio making his mark in the Isuzu UTE A-League this season.
The 17-year-old’s first league goal of his career came in a crucial moment to hand his side a point against the ‘Nix – and as Elrish watched on from the Paramount+ studio, he saw glimpses of Cássio reemerging through the movements and style of his son venturing into the earliest steps of a flourishing career.
“I’m happy for the kid, he’s worked hard,” Elrich said. “Every game he’s been involved in he’s been lively.
“You see so many similarities to his father Cassio, he loves the little shimmy in and out, (but) he’s more right-footed than his dad. Congratulations to him.”
