Kevin Muscat feels Melbourne Victory’s attacking mentality will serve them well during what is set to be a fiercely competitive Hyundai A-League finals campaign.
Victory were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Perth Glory on Saturday night, leaving the Big V fourth, four points behind Kenny Lowe’s men, who returned to first place courtesy of that result.
Adelaide United, Wellington Phoenix and Sydney FC are all also firmly in contention to earn a top-two finish, meaning the 2014-15 playoffs are likely to be as keenly contested as any finals series in A-League history.
Report: Melbourne Victory 1 Perth Glory 1
And while the visitors at AAMI Park this weekend appeared content from the outset to return to Western Australia with a share of the spoils, Muscat insisted his team’s aggressive approach will serve them well in knockout competition.
“It was evident to me there was one team trying to win the game tonight,” he said.
“From now until the end of the season, to win anything, to win any trophies, you’re going to have to win football games. I’d rather not rely on trying not to lose a game and pinching it. That’s just the way I am.”
Muscat sought to play down the ugly fallout from the biggest flashpoint of the game, when the Victory players and staff confronted the match officials to protest Andy Keogh’s opening goal.
The Glory centre-forward appeared to be in an offside position when he received Michael Thwaite’s pass.
“I don’t think it was an altercation,” he said.
“Understandably the players were annoyed. We were trying to calm them down. I spoke with the fourth official, I was walking with him on the park to try and calm the players down.
“We’ve come in at half-time … it would have been very easy for us to start whining about things we couldn’t control, i.e. the referee, the officials.
“If they’ve made a mistake tonight, they’ve made a mistake. We couldn’t control that, it’s gone. The reaction we showed in the second half was first rate.”
Next up for Victory is a trip to face the struggling Western Sydney Wanderers in Parramatta next Friday night.
