Marco Rojas scored deep into stoppage time to snatch a pulsating 2-1 win for Melbourne Victory over rivals Adelaide United at Coopers Stadium on Saturday night.
Rojas turned home Sebastian Pasquali’s pass in the third minute of added time to consign the Reds to a second straight loss and send Victory’s travelling contingent into raptures.
Tarek Elrich looked to have secured the hosts a point when he cancelled out Besart Berisha’s opener with a sweet left-footed strike in the 68th minute.
However, after debutant Danny Choi and Spaniard Sergi Guardiola both hit the post, it was left to Rojas to poke home for Victory’s first win of the campaign.
Berisha earlier got on the end of a sweeping counter-attacking to open the scoring in the 20th minute, while Adelaide’s night was soured further with a potentially serious injury suffered by Henrique.
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GOALS
0-1 Victory: Berisha, 20’
Marco Rojas found space on the counter-attack and swept an early pass across for Besart Berisha, who used all of his elite striking prowess to step inside Dylan McGowan and bury the opener.
1-1 Adelaide: Elrich, 68’
Elrich received Ryan Kitto’s quick-free and curled a sumptuous left-strike inside Lawrence Thomas’ top corner.
1-2 Victory: Rojas, 90’+3
Berisha fought for possession on the edge of the area and found teenager Pasquali, whose smart drive pass was prodded home at close range by Rojas.
INJURY WARD
Following confirmation of a lengthy lay-off for Sergio Cirio, United coach Guillermo Amor could have more injury troubles to solve after Henrique suffered a troubling knock to his knee in a tangle with Oliver Bozanic.
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