Melbourne Victory goalkeeper Paul Izzo saved FOUR penalties in an incredible Melbourne Derby as Victory defeated Melbourne City 3-2 in a penalty shoot-out to seal the most dramatic of wins and book their spot in the Isuzu UTE A-League Semi-Finals.
After Tolgay Arslan had seen a penalty saved by Paul Izzo in the 19th minute, City eventually took the lead ten minutes later as defender Souprayen headed home from a corner.
Victory then had a good chance to level things up but Machach’s effort from inside the box was blocked on the line before the Moroccan midfielder was then sent-off for violent conduct after he was shown a straight red card for kicking out at City winger Leo Natel.
Victory keeper Izzo then produced a series of excellent saves to ensure the deficit remained at just one before the home side somehow then dragged themselves level late in the game care of substitute Nishan Velupillay’s 88th minute equaliser.
The home side then thought they were going to be awarded a penalty in the 96th minute only for referee Alex King to rule Damien Da Silva had come from an offside position before heading the ball onto the outstretched arm of Mathew Leckie.
City were then reduced to 10-men deep into stoppage time as defender Curtis Good was shown a second yellow card after bringing down Velupillay in the 118th minute before the game went to a penalty shoot out.
Kicking first, Natel finally beat Izzo on the evening as he smashed his penalty down the middle before Victory captain Roderick Miranda dispatched his penalty to make it 1-1.
Having already saved one penalty in the game Izzo then sprang to his left to deny Terry Antonis before Victory took the lead in the shootout as Da Silva fired the ball high into the roof of the net.
Not content with saving two penalties on the night, Izzo then guessed the right way to palm Talbot’s penalty away before stepping up to the spot himself and hammering the ball down the middle to make it 3-1 to Victory in the shootout.
Needing to score to keep City alive young striker Max Caputo then slotted the ball beyond Caputo to make it 3-2 before captain Leigh Broxham stepped up to the spot but saw his spotkick saved by Young.
However, still needing to score to keep his side alive City midfielder James Jeggo couldn’t beat Izzo from the spot as the keeper produced a third save of the shootout to etch his name in Melbourne Victory history and send his side through to the final four of the Finals Series.
Victory for Tony Popovic’s side means they’ll now face Wellington Phoenix over two legs for a spot in the Isuzu UTE A-League Grand Final with the first of those two games taking place on Sunday May 12th at AAMI Park before travelling to New Zealand for the second leg on Saturday May 18.
BUY YOUR TICKETS FOR THE ISUZU UTE A-LEAGUE SEMI-FINALS HERE!
Having controlled the early possession it was Victory who then carved out the first chance of the game in the 11th minute with Daniel Arzani inches away from opening the scoring.
After bundling Vicente Fernandez off the ball, the powerful Zinedine Machach charged towards the City box before releasing Arzani inside the area, however the Victory winger’s low, stinging shot was well saved at his near post by Jamie Young.
But if that piece of goalkeeping was good, his opposite number Izzo then pulled off a stunning effort to prevent City from taking the lead in the 16th minute.
Jinking onto his right foot inside the box, City winger Natel almost reeled away in early celebration as his curling effort was destined for the top right corner only for Izzo to produce a fine, fingertip save to push the ball round the post.
Despite being on the back foot early in the contest City were now in the ascendency and were awarded a penalty in the 17th minute for handball; Fernandez’ cutback catching the arm of Da Silva as he attempted to slide in and block the cross.
INJURY DOUBTS: Double injury blow sours Sydney’s bright finals start as history repeats for Sky Blues star
However, despite club captain and record goalscorer Jamie Maclaren being on the pitch it was decided Tolgay Arslan would be the player to take the spotkick and it proved to be the wrong decision, as the midfielder’s penalty was well saved by Izzo down to his right hand side.
Arslan though would soon feel better as City broke the deadlock in the 29th minute and the goal came from an unlikely source.
GRAND FINAL: CHAMPIONS! Sydney FC make history with Liberty A-League Grand Final triumph
After another City attack was cleared out for a corner, Arslan subsequently curled the resulting set-piece onto the head of Natel, and while his header was going well wide, it flew into the path of Souprayen and the big Frenchman guided his header back across goal and into the back of the net.
Now down a goal, Victory should have been level just two minutes later as an Arzani cutback inside the box fell into the path of Machach, however the midfielder’s left-footed effort was cleared off the line by Steven Ugarkovic, and that would prove to be Machach’s last involvement of the game.
After wriggling clear of Machach, City winger Natel was then fouled by Jake Brimmer in the same move and as he lay on the ground, was then seemingly kicked by Machach who was subsequently given a straight red card by the referee.
The home side then had Izzo to thank for ensuring the deficit remained at just one going into the break as the keeper produced another excellent save to once again prevent Natel from finding the back of the net.
Picking up where he left off, Natel was proving to be a real thorn in the side of Victory and came close once again to doubling City’s lead, however the Brazilian sent a curling effort wide of Izzo’s far post just three minutes into the second half.
Sensing Victory were now there for the taking, City continued to pile on the pressure and came close to bagging a second, however Maclaren’s close range header flew over the bar after good work from Fernandez down the left.
Izzo was then forced into an excellent save in the 66th minute, this time palming Arslan’s dipping effort from the edge of the box over the bar as City continued to crank up the pressure on their hosts.
But against the run of play, the home side somehow bagged an equaliser late in the game as substitutes Kasey Bos and Velupillay combined to devastating effect with the former teeing up the latter to drill home a shot from inside the box to make it 1-1.
Things then almost took the most dramatic of turns deep into stoppage time as referee King was called over by the Video Assistant Referee to review a possible penalty incident.
After Ryan Teague’s freekick into the box was headed down by Da Silva and into the outstretched arm of Mathew Leckie it appeared as though Victory would be given the chance to snatch a most unlikely win with the last kick off the game, however King ruled Da Silva was initially offside and therefore the penalty wouldn’t be awarded.
Both sides had several good chances to steal the win and Victory went close in the second half of extra time as Bos saw his swerving effort scrambled away by Young before Vilupillay then saw his follow up brilliantly blocked by Callum Talbot.
Charging forward from right back, City’s Ugarkovic then slammed a shot into the side-netting with five minutes of extra time remaining as both sides began to mentally prepare for the drama of a penalty shootout.
By far and away the standout performer at AAMI Park, Izzo then came up with another colossal save in the 113th minute, thwarting Natel once again, as he closed down the space to block the winger’s powerful effort from close range.
As if there wasn’t time for any more drama, City were then reduced to 10-men in the 118th minute after Good was shown a second yellow card after bringing down Velupillay as he attempted to race through on goal.
Soouprayen then hooked a cross over his own bar with 90 seconds left in the game before Schreiber did the same from the resulting corner to prevent what would have been a certain goal for Bos.
With the game going to a penalty shootout City won the coin toss and opted to kick first, with Natel slamming the ball beyond Izzo before Victory levelled through Miranda.
Substitute Antonis was then thwarted by Izzo before the home fans took the lead care of an emphatic penalty from Da Silva.
Now behind on the night Talbot was next to see his spotkick saved by Izzo as the Victory gloveman flew down to his right to palm the ball away before the goalkeeper then stepped up himself to dispatch the ball beyond his opposite number.
Needing to score to keep City alive, Caputo beat Izzo to make it 3-2 but Victory still had the chance to win it through the retiring Broxham; however the veteran was denied by Young.
However there was no stopping Izzo on the night and the man in orange produced his FOURTH penalty save of the night to thwart Jeggo and send his side through to the semi-finals.
As for Melbourne City, defeat brings about an end to the club careers of both captain Jamie Maclaren and all-time leading appearance holder Curtis Good, who will both now depart the club following the completion of their contracts.
