Melbourne Victory have maintained their unbeaten start to the 2016 AFC Champions League (ACL) following a 0-0 draw against South Korean outfit Suwon Bluewings.
Victory are looking to advance beyond the ACL group stage for the first time in five attempts and had a great opportunity to take a big step towards the Round of 16 against Group G’s last-placed side on Tuesday.
But instead, the reigning Hyundai A-League champions lacked cutting edge up front to make it back-to-back home wins on the continental stage.
Despite the draw, Victory remain top of Group G with five points, although they could be overhauled if Shanghai SIPG (3) or Gamba Osaka (2) win their Matchday 3 clash.
The hosts had the better of the opening moments but failed to create enough genuine goal-scoring opportunities, with the Bluewings arguably going closest to conceding in the eighth minute when Sin Se-gye’s back-pass was cleared off the line by goalkeeper No Dong-geon.
As the first half wore on, Suwon began to gain more possession and captain Yeom Ki-hun’s delivery from the left caused Victory’s defence some problems.
Victory thought they had opened the scoring in the 53rd minute via the head of Archie Thompson, only for the veteran striker to be correctly judged offside after nodding Daniel Georgievski’s header into the net.
The home side continued to huff and puff but rarely gave Suwon’s defence too much to worry about, with Kosta Barbarouses’ 85th-minute strike a rare highlight for Victory.
In the end, the Bluewings (2 points) would have been happy enough with a draw as it kept them alive in Group G with three games remaining, while Victory probably need to win at least one of their away matches against Suwon or Shanghai to be certain of advancing.
