Melbourne Victory are up into second on the Isuzu UTE A-League after second-half substitute Bruno Fornaroli helped seal an impressive 3-1 win over rivals Western United at AAMI Park on Sunday.
Zinedine Machach gave Victory the lead with a ferocious eighth-minute strike before Noah Botic’s first goal of the season restored parity of Western 11 minutes later in Melbourne.
Victory re-took the lead just three minutes after the break as Greek forward Nikos Vergos scored from a tight angle inside the box, much to the disappointment of Western keeper Matt Sutton who was beaten at his near post.
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Substitute and veteran talisman Fornaroli then bagged his first goal of the season in the 69th minute, curling a right-footed shot past Sutton to make it 3-1 having only just come on to the pitch in place of Vergos.
The result marks Victory’s fourth win of the season and moves them up into second on the ladder following their shock loss to Wellington Phoenix in Unite Round, while defeat leaves Western United sat in 10th spot after a third loss of the campaign.
After Machach’s emphatic opener inside 10 minutes, Victory team-mate Jordi Valadon then warmed the gloves of Sutton as Victory threatened to bag a second but out of nowhere, Western fired themselves back on level terms.
Failing to clear a Western set-piece, Victory striker Vergos headed the ball straight to the feet of Botic and the 22-year-old made no mistake inside the box; drilling a left-footed effort beyond Duncan.
Sutton was then busy again, this time denying Valadon in a one-on-one after the Victory midfielder was put through on goal by Vergos.
John Aloisi’s Western were then inches away from taking the lead in the 38th minute as a venomous strike from Matthew Grimaldi crashed off the foot of the post and into the back of keeper Duncan before then bouncing wide of the target.
Level at the break, Victory re-established their lead within three minutes of the restart thanks to Vergos.
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Combining well with Machach, the former Olympiacos and Panathinaikos striker charged into the area and while defender Kane Vidmar appeared to have shown him wide of the target, Vergos still managed to fire an effort towards the near post which then went through the legs of Sutton and into the back of the net.
Vidmar was then involved again shortly after, this time producing a well-timed block in the 53rd minute to thwart the ever-lively Machach.
Fresh off the bench, Fornaroli then took less two minutes to get himself on the scoresheet and he did it in style.
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Latching on to a pinpoint diagonal ball from Valadon, the veteran striker timed his run in behind the defence to perfection and quickly dispatched a curling effort into the far corner beyond the despairing dive of Sutton to register his 108th Isuzu UTE A-League goal.
Western pushed hard to drag themselves back into the contest but Victory’s defensive unit stood firm to limit their opponents to few chances as they held on to seal their fourth win of the season.
