Melbourne Victory launched themselves back into finals contention on Saturday night with a comfortable 2-0 win over Perth Glory, but the win came at a cost with star striker Archie Thompson limping off with a hamstring injury.
Thompson, who returned from a knee reconstruction in November, scored a sensational opener seconds before half-time, but appeared to tweak his hamstring when leaping over the oncoming Tando Velaphi in Perth’s goal.
To add to Victory’s woes, left-back Matthew Kemp lasted just 32 minutes before being substituted with a groin complaint while playmaker Carlos Hernandez was removed after 87 minutes with an ankle injury.
Assistant coach Aaron Healey said both Thompson and Kemp would be assessed during the week while Hernandez is expected to recover in time for fifth-placed Melbourne’s next home game against sixth-placed Newcastle at AAMI Park in a week.
“I honestly don’t know with those guys – (Kemp), (Thompson), I’m pretty sure Carlos (Hernandez) will be alright,” was Healey’s assessment of the damage.
“With that we’ve obviously got three guys who are sitting on the sides who are good enough to step up in Mate Dugandzic, Leigh Broxham and Billy Celeski.”
“You get these little hiccups along the way and I’m sure we can cover for them.”
It’s been a horror run of injuries for Kemp and Thompson with both missing the majority of 2010 with the same injury, but Healey pointed to Victory’s depth and in particular in-form striker Robbie Kruse.
“We’ve got Robbie Kruse… I thought tonight he was outstanding again, his defensive work is underestimated. I think Carlos (Hernandez) is getting better. For me tonight I thought Marvin (Angulo) was sensational. He does a job in defence and attack,” he said.
But there’s no doubting the injury to Thompson comes at a poor time for Victory, with both he and Kruse beginning to form a lethal partnership. Kruse, who leads the league in scoring (10 goals), will now have to lead the line with Ricardinho, who came on for Thompson.
Healey admitted the injuries were a concern but was grateful for the three points.
“Most important thing is we got the result,” he said. “I think we’ve played a fraction better this year and not got a result.”
“Sometimes you don’t play the pretty football that we’re probably renowned for but we ground it out tonight and got a really important result,” he said.
