A 96th minute goal from substitute Ben Folami has fired Melbourne Victory to a dramatic 3-2 win over 10-man Perth Glory at HBF Park on Saturday night, sending Tony Popovic’s side top of the Isuzu UTE A-League ladder.
Adam Taggart opened the scoring for Glory with a stunning half volley in the 20th minute, before Zinedine Machach equalised the brink of half-time with a sensational long range strike of his own.
Glory were reduced to 10 men after Bruce Kamau was sent off just after half-time against his former side. Substitute Eli Adams scored a brilliant long range goal of his own to give Victory the lead in the 82nd minute, before Kaelan Majekodunmi curled home what looked to be the equaliser.
However, with time expiring, Folami placed the ball past Glory keeper Cameron Cook with a well taken finish to extend their unbeaten start to the season to 11 straight games.
Victory now leapfrog Wellington Phoenix after they drew with Adelaide United earlier in the week, going two points ahead of the ‘Nix on the standings.
Meanwhile, Glory remain in second-last on the table, seven points off sixth-placed Sydney FC heading into the remainder of the round, but also five points behind 10th placed Newcastle Jets – the nearest side above them on the ladder.
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All eyes were on how Victory would line-up in their first game without star striker Bruno Fornaroli – who is on international duty with the Socceroos at the AFC Asian Cup. Chris Ikonomidis was drafted into the XI for Fornaroli, with both he and Machach leading the line at different times.
Glory would, however, strike first, but after a capitalising on a moment of fortune.
Victory looked to play out from the back, but Daniel Arzani mishit his pass back towards the defence, which was pounced upon by Taggart, who collected the ball on the bounce and fired an unstoppable half volley past Paul Izzo.
Stajcic’s charges had all the momentum in the ensuing moments, this time it was Mustafa Amini who tried his luck from range, with his shot spilled by Izzo into the path of Colakovski who was unable to capitalise.
Victory began to finally test back the other way, with Machach forcing a good save from Cook, before Nishan Velupillay hooked an effort wide.
The visitors’ pressure would pay off eventually, in a play kickstarted by Arzani – who atoned for his earlier mistake. The winger drove through the middle of the park, before laying it off to Machach who worked his way past two Glory defenders, including nutmegging Lachman, before hitting a stinging effort back across Cook and into the back of the net.
With the game delicately poised coming out of the half-time interval, Glory found themselves down a player within seconds of the restart. Kamau got on the end of a flick from Colakovski just inside the penalty area and went to ground lightly after Damien Da Silva lunged to win the ball.
After calls for a penalty, referee Lachie Keevers pointed in the opposite direction and handed Kamau a yellow card for simulation; his second of the game which therefore, ended his night prematurely as he was sent off.
But going down a player didn’t stop Perth from attacking Victory, who continued to pose a threat in transition throughout the early stages of the second-half.
Taggart was still causing issues in the final third and came close to adding a second when he had a volley from inside the area deflected behind for a corner.
As time went on, though, Victory began to assume control and came close to taking the lead when Folami’s cutting through-ball found Velupillay – who forced two quality reflex saves from Cook in quick succession.
Victory’s strong end to the second-half would finally be rewarded as Adams jagged his way towards the top of the penalty box from the right-flank, before curling the ball into the top corner, to give his side the lead with his first league goal.
Perth would continue to mount a fight after Adams’ go-ahead goal, with substitute Luke Ivanovic forcing a quality save from Izzo, but moments later they would get their equaliser.
Amini’s corner was nodded into the air by Jacob Muir, falling at the feet of Majekodunmi, who took a touch nice past Connor Chapman and fired home a memorable debut goal.
But with the game seemingly poised for a draw, Folami found some space inside the penalty area and curled the ball past Cook to incredibly win the game for Victory.
The talking point
The final 10 minutes – plus stoppage time – of Saturday night’s contest will live long in A-Leagues fans memories.
Perth Glory and Melbourne Victory threw everything at each other in search of three points at HBF Park, but the contest descended into complete chaos as the clock struck 82 minutes when Eli Adams scored a brilliant first A-Leagues goal to give the visitors the lead.
With the game seemingly won, Kaelan Majekodunmi would fire home the equaliser only 31 minutes after coming on for his Glory debut following Daryl Lachman’s injury – which compounded a depleted defensive unit which is already missing suspended duo Mark Beevers and Aleksandar Susnjar.
But in the dying moments, Ben Folami would fire home the winner, sending the small corner of Victory fans into delirium.
Importantly, Folami and Adams’ goals come at an important time as Victory continues to look for their first best mix up front during Bruno Fornaroli’s absence.
The duo’s performances certainly thrusted themselves into the spotlight for a start next week against Central Coast Mariners.
The star
Zinedine Machach was central to everything going forward for Melbourne Victory on Saturday night.
The French-born Moroccan attacker scored a stunning goal to bring the scores level on the brink of half-time, and continued to cause all sorts of headaches playing as both a No.10 and No.9 at times, interchanging with his teammates throughout the contest.
More performances like this will be integral for Victory during this month, especially as they look for players to fill the Fornaroli sized hole in attack.
What this means
The gutsy win sends Melbourne Victory top of the ladder heading into Unite Round.
Tony Popovic’s side are in the midst of a three game road stand which continues next Saturday at Allianz Stadium, when they face fellow red-hot side Central Coast Mariners, who also came away with a win earlier in the day.
Meanwhile, Perth Glory lost further ground on the top six and will once again be looking for their first win outside Western Australia since October 2022 when they jet to New South Wales next week.
Glory take on second-placed Wellington Phoenix next Sunday at CommBank Stadium.
