A late goal from Jing Reec has seen the Central Coast Mariners snatch a 1-1 draw with Melbourne Victory at Allianz Stadium.
In a game short on clear-cut chances Daniel Arzani’s 33rd minute penalty gave Victory the lead on a warm afternoon at Allianz Stadium.
The Mariners, playing for the first time without their former striker Marco Tulio, weren’t at their attacking best but grabbed an equaliser in the 89th minute thanks to a cool finish from substitute Jing Reec.
The result moves Victory three points clear ahead of second placed Western Sydney Wanderers while Central Coast extend their unbeaten run to eight matches and sit fourth on the ladder.
Despite the Mariners enjoying the early possession it was Victory who fashioned the game’s first real chance in the 13th minute.
After combining well with Zinedine Machach, Ben Folami then released Daniel Arzani inside the area but the mercurial winger’s low effort was comfortably saved by Mariners captain Danny Vukovic at his near post.
The reigning Champions should have taken the lead in the 14th minute however Alou Kuol could only stab his effort wide of the upright after stretching to latch on to Storm Roux’s whipped delivery from the right hand side.
Ben Folami then saw his curling effort from outside the box well-saved by Vukovic but it was Victory who were now seemingly controlling possession of the football and their dangerous play around the box would soon be rewarded.
A mix-up inside the Mariners area between Max Balard and Dan Hall saw the latter bring down Chris Ikonimidis inside the box with Daniel Arzani subsequently slotting home the resulting penalty to give Victory the lead.
The Mariners had a good chance to equalise in the 38th minute but Jason Geria’s sloppy back pass wasn’t punished by Will Wilson, as the former Victory midfielder drilled his shot straight at Paul Izzo from the edge of the box.
Mark Jackson’s side then saw another good opportunity go begging as Alou Kuol’s glancing header flew past Paul Izzo’s far post after more good work from Roux on the Mariners’ right.
Victory then almost doubled their lead in first half stoppage time but thankfully for the Mariners Chris Ikonimidis’ effort curled over the crossbar and it remained 1-0 at the break.
Tony Popovic went to his bench half time with Jake Brimmer replacing Fabian Monge while Ryan Teague was then forced off in the 56th minute with what appeared to be a knee injury.
The influential Arzani was then withdrawn in the 69th minute after going down with what initially seemed to be a cramp however the winger was clearly in some discomfort when later seen hobbling back towards the bench, prompting fears he may have suffered a hamstring injury.
The Mariners huffed and puffed in the second half and struggled to create many meaningful chances but when they did finally breach the Victory defence it was substitute Jing Reec who bagged the equaliser.
After evading a challenge in midfield, the intelligent Max Balard played a perfect through ball into the path of Reec who having sprinted clear of the Victory defence, calmly rounded Izzo before slotting the ball into an empty net.
What they said
It’s a result that will feel like a loss for Melbourne Victory and very much a case of what could have been for Tony Popovic’s side as they succumbed to that late draw at Allianz Stadium.
“Our problem was not getting to the final third, we didn’t have an issue with that,” said Popovic. “it was from then on, the combinations weren’t quite there. We gave away sloppy passes when there were good opportunities to run through on goal.”
Key to Victory’s attacking output was Daniel Arzani who, after dazzling in the first half, was forced from the field in the second due to a bad bout of cramp.
“I thought he was very good and very disciplined,” said Popovic when asked about Arzani’s display. “He really should have, I believe, scored to make it 2-0 and that’s an area that he needs to be more decisive in in front of goal, but you can see his game’s improving with and without the ball.”
However, while Arzani may well be improving from a technical stand point it’s in the physical department that Popovic believe he’s still lacking in, especially given the 25-year-old once again failed to complete 90 minutes for his side.
“The more he plays, I guess he’ll get stronger,” said Popovic of Arzani. “He doesn’t miss any training and he doesn’t cramp in training and we train with intensity. I believe it’s more than just the body.
“He’ll get better the more he plays, it’s the anxiety of playing, it’s maybe wanting, putting stress on yourself to make everything perfect. Once he plays more regularly he will maybe relax a bit more and with the training and the mental side I think we can get him to play longer.”
As for the Mariners the point extends their unbeaten run to eight games in the Isuzu UTE A-League and Football Manager Mark Jackson believes the point they take back to the coast was certainly deserved.
“We executed our game plan very well in the first half,” said Jackson. “We limited them to very little apart from the penalty which was kind of a mistake on our part.
“The boys kept playing, we said stay calm, stick to the plan and we did that in the second half. We had to tweak a few little things, asked for a little bit more in different areas and we got that.”
Despite losing the first four games of their title defence the Mariners now find themselves back in the finals places, six points off top spot, and Jackson believes his side are in the mix once again to challenge come the end of the season.
“From our point of view we don’t fear anybody, we don’t fear any team in the league and that’s not being big headed or anything like that, we’re just confident in how we can approach games and what we can do.”
“People ask what do we want to do – we want to win football matches, that’s all we want to do. Win football matches, play a particular way, we want to entertain but we want to win games… where that will take us, we’ll see…”
The star
While Daniel Arzani shone and then faded at Allianz Stadium, Jacob Farrell remained an ever-present.
Farrell’s capacity to come away successful from one-on-one battles was as impressive as ever while his ability to stream forward in order to add more numbers in attack gave the Mariners an additional outlet when the likes of Torres and Theohaurus were struggling to make an impact.
What it means
Melbourne Victory now extend their lead at the top of the Isuzu UTE A-League to three points but Popovic’s side will feel as though that number should have been five after the display they put in at Allianz Stadium.
However they maintain their unbeaten start to the league through 12 rounds and can potentially lay down a real marker on the league table with a win in their next match… an away trip to Wellington Phoenix in Round 13.
As for the Mariners, Mark Jackson’s side will be hoping to get back to winning ways in Round 13 when they face the side they beat in last season’s Grand Final, Melbourne City, at Industree Group Stadium.
