Melbourne Victory head coach Tony Popovic admits star midfielder Zinedine Machach can have no complaints following his red card during the club’s stunning Elimination Final win over Melbourne City.
Already down 1-0 at the time, Machach was shown a straight red by referee Alex King after kicking out at City winger Leo Natel as he lay on the floor, with the red card now likely to see Machach miss both leg’s of Victory’s Semi-Final tie against Wellington Phoenix.
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“By the letter of the law if you stick your leg out, whether there’s any contact or not and I know there was no contact,” said Popovic when asked about the decision after the game. “The player made the most of it and we got the red card.
“Look with Zizou (Machach), he made a mistake by giving their player the chance to feel that contact… let’s say there was contact,” said Popovic, hinting at the fact Natel appeared to over exaggerate the incident.
“When you stick your leg out you’re giving the referee a choice to make and their player was obviously really hurt from that touch… but we have to accept the red.
“You know it happens in big games, so many players have done it, I’ve done it when I was a player. You regret it immediately because he actually didn’t hurt the player.
He added: “But the action was deemed a red card and we had to just move on quickly and not dwell on it.”
An inspired performance from Paul Izzo kept a 10-man Victory side in the contest until substitute Nishan Velupillay levelled things up in the 88th minute at AAMI Park.
Having already thwarted Tolgay Arslan from the spot in regular time Izzo then produced a further three penalty saves before even scoring from the spot himself to help Victory seal a 3-2 win over their rivals and book a semi-final date with Wellington Phoenix.
“Ahh sensational,” said Popovic when discussing Izzo’s performance on Paramount+ at full-time. “He’s grown throughout the year and I’ve got to give credit to Davide (Del Giovine) who’s done some amazing work with him.
“They have a great bond and relationship and we’re delighted to have him. He was so confident that he would make saves but also he wanted a penalty as well which tells you a lot about his character.
He later added: “I don’t think anyone would doubt the talent, you know keepers are different. Maturity takes time.
“He’s maturing on the field but off the field he’s still the clown of the changing room and that’s why we love him.
“He’s a part of the leadership group this and year and I think that’s probably helped him, taking a lot of responsibility and helping the young keepers as well.”
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Whilst it was always likely that Izzo would be a viable option to step up and take a penalty in the shootout if required the Victory head coach conceded he had plenty of reshuffling to do when it came to choosing his final order given the lack of available players at his disposal.
“I had an idea,” revealed Popovic. “Obviously as the game goes on I probably expected Bruno (Fornaroli) to be on the field, Zizou (Machach) to be on the field.
He added: “You know, you can practice penalties but after 120 minutes, fatigue, extra time and (in a) Elimination Final you need strong players to step up.
“I wish Broxxy had scored – I’d have looked like a hero if he had but now I’m not!
“But you know hopefully he’ll have another moment in these finals.”
Victory will now face Wellington Phoenix at AAMI Park on Sunday May 12 in the first leg of their Semi-Final match up with the winner of that two-legged contest to face either Central Coast Mariners or Sydney FC in the Grand Final.
