With Nani’s Manchester United reunion putting Melbourne Victory front and centre of the football planet on Friday night, Chris Ikonomidis and Ben Folami re-wrote the script with a sublime bit of poise and quality to combine and put the Isuzu UTE A-League side 1-0 up, and make plenty of people sit up and take notice.
While the majority of the 74,000 fans at the MCG were in red, the opening goal, and Victory’s subsequent defensive resolve under first-half pressure, was a brilliant showpiece to those in the stands and the watching world, of the talents here in the A-League’s own backyard.
United’s weight of possession eventually told in the 4-1 win, but for a side three months out from their season kicking off, the night was a positive one for Melbourne Victory to wrap up a momentous week.
“We left a good image,” beamed defender Roderick Miranda, who reunited with compatriot Bruno Fernandes and has had a big week with Portuguese icon Nani joining the club.
“We compete and now go to the first game of the (Australian) Cup with good feelings.”
The opening goal was no fluke – a well constructed pattern that augurs well given Victory are some three months away from the season proper.
ANALYSIS: Victory’s 14-second, six-pass move was no fluke and exposed Manchester United
“Luckily, we train a lot goal kicks, kick offs, set pieces, so it’s something natural for us to to score, of course, against a very tough side,” Miranda explained.
“It’s a high pressure team, a very good goal. But the important thing is to analyze after the fourth goal, because it’s some easy goals that we left them.
“(But) we defended well most of the time of the game.”
Veteran Leigh Broxham has played in all of Victory’s glamour friendlies, and although in the end it was a “tough night” under a weight of United possession, particularly down the right via Jadon Sancho, the boyhood Manchester United fan says it was a night the club can build from.
“That first goal was fantastic,” he said. “I think if you can replicate some more moments like that, we’ve got a lot to build on.”
He continued: “A couple of the young boys come on as well; great moment for them and it’s a good moment for football.”
21-year-old Jay Barnett, for example, hadn’t played first team football since January due to injury, and three weeks ago was getting match minutes with Victory’s National Premier League outfit in Victoria. He was hugely important in that opening goal, and impressed particular through the opening 35 minutes.
Although George Timotheou was the player who gave away the ball for the opening goal, it was with the ambition of playing a pass with intent from his own half. That’s how Victory’s goal came; it is clearly a pattern Tony Popovic has been drilling his side with, and just moments before his mistake, he had confidently strode through the lines into midfield to advance Victory’s possession. Defensively, he was frequently at the heart of last ditch scrambles as United pressed closer to goal.
It might sound odd in a 4-1 defeat, but Paul Izzo’s accomplished stop off Bruno Fernandes in the first-half is a little glimpse into an important piece of business. Nani will rightly get the transfer window headlines, but the returning 27-year-old custodian, back in the A-League after moving to Xanthi with Popovic, is an upgrade on Ivan Kelava.
He becomes part of a spine that includes Josh Brillante, who held his own hustling for long periods in the first-half, and while Victory’s raids were largely limited thereafter, absorbing wave after wave of United pressure while sitting deep, Ikonomidis and Folami looked confident trying to burst forward and will have their finest moment showcased with millions of views across social media today.
Nights like these tend to consign the local host to the sideshow, but, even the players themselves enjoyed the moment, waiting for jerseys, enjoying a taste of football from another stratosphere, while showing the product they have right here is eminently enjoyable as well.
“A fantastic turnout,” beamed new signing Tomi Juric, speaking to us wearing Bruno Fernandes’ jersey.
“Obviously Melbourne has done the job again, so congratulations to them and the city.
“But you know, for us it’s a little bit disappointing obviously to how we finished. So it’s something that we’ll look to improve on. It is our first game.”
He added: “(But we’ve got ) big ambitions, absolutely. That’s one of the main reasons why I’ve joined this club, because of the season they’ve had last year and definitely looking to build on that.
“Signing Nani, it really shows the intent of the club and I hope that we can live up to the expectations.”
