New Melbourne Victory coach Kevin Muscat begins his coaching career with a win Photo: AsianFC
Western Sydney Wanderers striker Tomi Juric is staking a claim as a Socceroo after continuing to show good form against his old club Adelaide United on Friday night, scoring a brace in a 2-1 win at Pirtek Stadium.
The first half was dominated by a slew of missed opportunities for Wester Sydney as Adelaide were counting their lucky stars to still be on level terms at the break. The second half saw an evenly contested match but the Wanderers were looking more comfortable in possession of the ball.
Adelaide took the lead against the run of play through Marcelo Carrusca but it only took 6 minutes for the home team to equalise as young gun Juric scored with a fantastic strike from well outside the box. Adelaide were looking tired as a cross from the right saw Juric finish with a clinical header with 10 minutes left to give his team a 2-1 win in a man of the match performance from the promising striker.
On Saturday Perth Glory hosted Sydney FC in a match that was decided by a controversial decision. The referee awarded Perth a 9th penalty for a foul on a Perth player that was well offside. Perth goal keeper Danny Vukovic was in fine form as Sydney FC had chance after chance thwarted by the Glory shot stopper. The game also saw Sydney’s Alessandro Del Piero and Perth’s Shane Smeltz come off the bench to make an impact following injury lay offs, but neither player managed to make any significant difference for their side.
The F3 derby between the Newcastle Jets and the Central Coast Mariners provided fantastic entertainment in Newcastle on Saturday night. The first half was an evenly contested affair that was pleasing for the neutral, but it was the second half that had fans really excited. The Jets finally scored their first goal of the season to make it 1-0 early on. Then an error by Mariners keeper Justin Pasfield made it 2-0. Newcastle were dominating their rivals and threatening to make it 3-0 but an inexplicable defensive error handed the Mariners a lifeline through a penalty, which they scored to make it 2-1 against the run of play.
Then it was the Mariners’ turn to dominate, and eventually they managed to breach the Jets defence for a second time to make it 2-2. The final 10 minutes saw some very open, attacking play that had fans on the edge of their seats. The addition of 5 minutes of injury time further enticed fans wondering who would score a last gasp winner; a draw seemed to be a fair outcome.
Brisbane Roar continued their impressive start to the season with a comprehensive 3-0 win over Melbourne Heart at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday. The first half saw Melbourne miss two clear cut chances to take the lead, which would end up coming back to haunt them. It didn’t take too long for the second half to come to life as Brisbane took a 1-0 lead only 3 minutes in. Heart hit the woodwork, but it was Brisbane who scored again to double their lead. Heart had an immediate chance to pull one back, but missed another opportunity to get on to the score sheet. Brisbane scored a third 13 minutes from time to complete a resounding second half performance as they sit comfortably on top of the A-League ladder.
Kevin Muscat’s debut as Melbourne Victory’s coach started successfully with a 3-2 win over Wellington Phoenix on Monday night at Etihad Stadium. Muscat must have thought that the football gods were on his side after his team were 3-0 up and dominating the Phoenix only 31 minutes into the match. It looked as though Victory were going to run away with it, but a goal 7 minutes from the break by Wellington brought it back to 3-1. The second half was a much more even affair between the two sides and a second goal by the Phoenix 7 minutes from time made it a tense finish. But the home side managed to hold on to a 3-2 victory and go equal 2nd on the ladder.
A-League Round 4 Scores
Western Sydney Wanderers 2 – Adelaide United 1
Perth Glory 1 – Sydney FC 0
Newcastle Jets 2 – Central Coast Mariners 2
Brisbane Roar 3 – Melbourne Heart 0
Melbourne Victory 3 – Wellington Phoenix 2
