Melbourne Victory head coach Kevin Muscat has praised his side’s ‘controlled’ performance after their 4-2 victory over Brisbane Roar on Friday night.
The Hyundai A-League thriller sparked into action on 13 minutes when Kosta Barbarouses volleyed James Troisi’s delicate chip in behind Roar’s defence.
No one could have predicted what was to come, as the next 32 minutes saw another five goals and an Éric Bauthéac send-off.
Muscat was most proud of the way his side appeared to keep their temperament in what was an otherwise frenetic, yet entertaining, first half.
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“So much happened in the first half, it was just action packed,” he said.
“I thought we were really controlled — really controlled about how we went about things, really controlled when the game was fiery, really controlled in our football and played some really good stuff, played some excellent football.
“Second half I thought we were very controlled, dominated territory.
“We still pressed, really pressed with intensity.
“[We] limited what was a depleted Brisbane side down to ten men, limited them to very little in the second half and had enough opportunities to score, but very, very satisfied with the result.”
At one point, Victory appeared on the verge of surrendering their lead when Ola Toivonen’s own goal put the scores precariously at 3-2.
However, rather than flounder, Muscat’s men kicked into another gear and had the final say of the half when their training ground corner routine yielded a goal right on half time.
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That summed up Victory’s performance which much pleased Muscat.
“I just thought there were some really good passages of football — playing out from the back [for example].
“And if I had to use a word to describe us, I thought we were really ‘controlled,’” said Muscat.
“When tackles are flying in and we’ve got possession, and when we were pressing we showed maturity as a team, as a unit.
“Everybody together tonight.”
The win was Victory’s sixth in succession, the third time to have achieved this feat in their history, giving them the perfect platform ahead of Round 9’s Melbourne Derby at AAMI Park on Saturday, December 22.
Muscat’s men are now first on the ladder, a point ahead of Perth, who play Newcastle Jets on Sunday afternoon.
