Ten months after he was charged with lifting Melbourne Victory out of the doldrums, Tony Popovic’s revolution has delivered its first trophy in a dramatic 2-1 FFA Cup final triumph over Central Coast Mariners.
Jason Davidson’s thunderous free-kick handed Victory the deserved advantage in the 70th minute, with Chris Ikonomidis’ 95th-minute volley proving the winner before Central Coast skipper Oliver Bozanic created a nervous finish in the seventh minute of stoppage time.
The triumph, Victory’s second FFA Cup title after 2015, came just eight months after their first wooden spoon.
As a result of their poor 2020-21, Victory had to win a play-off to reach the Cup round of 32 before going on a barnstorming cup, using 31 players in a campaign culminating in Saturday night’s triumph in front of 15,343 fans at AAMI Park.
Popovic’s first domestic final win also earned Victory a shot at the AFC Champions League, with the competition winner receiving a play-off spot – an away game against Vissel Kobe in March.
Chances in a cagey first half proved few and far between, as Dan Hall brilliantly marshalled Central Coast’s gritty defence.
Victory cranked up their intensity after the break and in the 50th minute, were awarded a penalty after Matheus Moresche cut down Nick D’Agostino.
But after consulting with his assistants, Shaun Evans ruled the striker had come back into play from an offside position.
There is no VAR in the FFA Cup, which will be renamed the Australia Cup, but there are two additional assistant referees for the final.
The game cracked open when Marco Rojas went on a barnstorming forward run and was cut down by Harrison Steele.
Davidson had acted as a decoy on previous set pieces but stepped up and thundered a wonderful left-footed strike into the top corner as AAMI Park erupted.
The Mariners unsuccessfully appealed for a penalty after Jacob Farrell went down in the area in the 86th minute.
Victory snared a second goal five minutes into injury time when Brillante quickly took a free-kick and the ball ultimately ended up with Ikonomidis, who chested it to himself then smashed a sweet left-footed volley home.
Emotions spilled over for Victory’s active supporters, with a large number going over the barriers and briefly stopping play.
Shortly after, Victory failed to clear a Mariners attacking foray and the ball spilled to Bozanic, who lofted home a left-footed strike.
Bozanic had previously scored in Victory’s 2015 triumph but this time, his goal proved only a consolation.
