Two goals in a five-minute blitz helped Melbourne Victory overcome Perth Glory in a 2-0 win at HBF Park on Saturday night and move up to third on the Isuzu UTE A-League table.
Subway Socceroos winger Nishan Velupillay opened the scoring in the 61st minute after a 15-minute period of sustained attacking pressure by the hosts, who had ample opportunity to open the scoring before conceding twice in quick succession – first to Velupillay before Clarismario Santos iced the result with a thumping header.
The three-point performance was Victory’s second win in a row – a feat the club hadn’t achieved since former head coach Patrick Kisnorbo’s shock departure to J1 League side Yokohama F.Marinos as assistant coach in early December.
Interim head coach Arthur Diles then went without a win through his first six games at the helm before finally breaking that run against Sydney FC last weekend. He’s since been confirmed as Victory’s permanent head coach until 2025-26; Diles celebrated the midweek announcement with a win over Perth to kickstart his permanent tenure in style.
Both sides began the game brightly in front of a healthy crowd at HBF Park – and by the 20-minute mark, momentum began to shift quickly from one team to another amid a flurry of attacking activity.
Velupillay lashed a strike just wide of the mark having beaten Zach Lisolajski in a one-on-one down the right wing.
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Soon after it was Adam Taggart showing a quick set of heels to burn his defender and go one-on-one with Victory keeper Mitch Langerak.
Taggart had done the hard part, hesitating in front of Victory defender Brendan Hamill before turning on the afterburners to breeze into the box – but his shot was smothered by the outrushing Langerak who produced a stunning save in his second game since returning to the A-Leagues.
Down the other end, Victory received a free-kick in a dangerous position that Ryan Teague delivered invitingly for Nikos Vergos to attack. The Greek forward’s header was accurate but Oli Sail showed quick reactions to divert the ball over the bar.
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On the cusp of half-time, new Glory loanee Patrick Wood came close to his first goal for the club after a first-time backheel off a low Taggart cross – but Langerak was once again up to the task of keeping the hosts at bay.
Less than 30 seconds after the restart, Taggart was played in behind Victory’s defence by Jaylan Pearman and beat Langerak to the drop to scoop the ball toward the goal line. But Hamill came to Victory’s rescue, getting back on his defensive line to clear the danger.
The hosts came even closer to the opener just minutes later when Lisolajski’s deflected effort from a tight angle dropped agonisingly wide of the base of the right-hand goalpost.
Nicholas Pennington was next in line to threaten Victory’s clean sheet as Glory’s barrage of early pressure continued. The midfielder had scored just two goals in 74 Isuzu UTE A-League games prior to Saturday night and he couldn’t add to that tally with a wide shot from inside the six-yard box under pressure from two Victory defenders.
Glory had dominated the early phase of the second half – but failure to capitalise on that domination proved costly as Victory scored against the run of play to take a 1-0 lead.
Zinedine Machach had the initial shot on goal but Sail didn’t do enough to push the ball away from danger. Instead, the ball kindly to Velupillay who ambled in for a simple finish into the bottom-left corner.
Five minutes later, Victory scored again to suck the life out of HBF Park.
Santos put the finishing touch on a swift Victory move that began deep in defence and fed through Machach, whose reverse pass down the left wing found Vergos in space for an inviting cross met by a leaping Santos who put the visitors out of sight.
