Melbourne Victory coach Kevin Muscat said there was a lot riding on Friday night’s Melbourne Derby.
His side prevailed 2-1 over City to close the gap to one point on their Melbourne rivals in third.
SEE ALL THE GOALS AND RELIVE THE GAME IN THE MATCH CENTRE
“There was a lot riding on this one. One apiece throughout the season and I thought it was a well-deserved win as well,” he told Fox Sports.
Victory were able to soak up the pressure in large parts of the game but hurt City at crucial times.
And even after having a goal chalked off by the VAR inside the first two minutes, Victory maintained a relentless edge. That impressed Muscat.
“We went at them again and got that [opening] goal. I thought we defended very well.
“But we weren’t satisfied [at 1-1] and went out and got an excellent second goal,” he said.
“We defended resiliently and showed a lot of fight and spirit to hold on.
“Everyone will say ‘why drop so deep’ and it’s because they had nine men in our box and we have to pick them up and defend well.”
Following last week’s thumping of Adelaide, Victory have crucial momentum after 22 rounds. Unlike Warren Joyce’s men, who have lost three on the bounce.
“You can sense we just needed a few things to go our way. And those who’ve asked for consistency [in results] the players answered that in very good fashion,” Muscat added.
MATCH FACTS
- Victory have now won four of the last five Melbourne Derby matches (L1). They have also claimed wins in three successive games versus City at AAMI Park.
- Bruno Fornaroli scored his first A-League goal in almost 12 months during this match (18/03/2017) and has now bagged three goals in his last three home appearances against Victory.
- Leroy George has now been directly involved in four goals across his last two appearances for Victory (two scored + two assists).
- Melbourne City have suffered back-to-back losses at AAMI Park for the first time since 2015 whilst Victory have now managed to win five of their last seven on the road (L2).
- Four of Melbourne Victory’s last six away goals have been scored by Kosta Barbarouses.
