Melbourne Victory will head into the Ninja A-League Finals Series in form and full of confidence after closing out the regular season with a 2-0 win over 10-player Brisbane Roar.
Nickoletta Flannery’s stunning first-half strike and Alex Chidiac’s second-half nutmeg guided Victory to a club-record extending 13th game without defeat on Saturday afternoon, which also includes an historic run of eight consecutive wins.
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Victory’s Premiership hopes were dashed by rivals Melbourne City on Friday night but the in-form Championship contenders still had plenty to play for at AAMI Park, where they maintained their momentum at the expense of slumping Brisbane.
Roar – who farewelled retiring duo Mariel Hecher and Keeley Richards – played out the final 30 minutes with a numerical disadvantage after Momo Hayashi was sent off.
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Jeff Hopkins’ Victory did not risk Emily Gielnik for the regular-season finale as the star striker watched from the stands nursing Achilles tendinitis, while Roar captain Tameka Yallop was looking to make one last push in the Golden Boot race before the CommBank Matildas gun succumbed to an apparent hamstring injury during the closing stages.
A swift counter-attacking move nearly saw Victory come unstuck after Yallop released Emily Pringle but her Brisbane teammate could only direct her strike straight at goalkeeper Courtney Newbon.
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And eight minutes later, Victory broke the deadlock at the other end.
It took a momentum of magic from Flannery to give the home side the lead with two minutes remaining until half-time.
Some desperate defending from Victory captain Kayla Morrison frustrated Roar seven minutes into the second half, with the defender twice putting her body on the line to preserve the Melbourne club’s lead.
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At the other end, Chidiac doubled Victory’s lead moments later with the Australia international guiding the ball through the legs of retiring Roar goalkeeper Keeley Richards.
Brisbane were reduced to 10 players with 30 minutes remaining after Japanese star Hayashi was sent off for making contact with the referee.
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