Melbourne Victory coach Kevin Muscat says it’s “shattering” to take only a 2-2 draw from Saturday night’s dramatic derby against Melbourne City at AAMI Park.
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Shortly after netting the equaliser, Gui Finkler was denied a potential matchwinner when his free-kick was incorrectly adjudged to have not crossed the line of Thomas Sorensen’s goal.
Speaking after the match on Fox Sports, Muscat sympathised with the difficulty of the decision but claimed it altered the course of the match.
“Normally when you score more goals than the opposition you do win,” Muscat joked on Matchday Saturday.
“I understand in that particular incident it’s difficult (because) the ball is moving at great speeds.
“But they’re the ones that alter the result of the game so more importantly they’re the ones we have to get right and unfortunately it didn’t occur tonight.”
Victory twice fell behind to Bruno Fornaroli goals in the first-half but fought back on both occasions to remain level on points with their neighbours.
Muscat reserved particular praised for his side’s efforts to upset City’s passing game.
“I think there was a different approach to the game and a different mindset,” he said of the reigning champions.
“I thought the intensity and the pressure put on the ball carrier was immense tonight and it reverted them to playing a lot of direct balls up to their top two, who are dangerous.
“The majority of times we picked those balls up.
“All in all I was very, very pleased with the performance. It’s just shattering we didn’t come away with all three points.”
