Melbourne Victory produced a dominant display in the NPL3 competition, defeating Boroondara-Carey Eagles 3-0 to remain top of the ladder.
Team News
Head coach Joe Palatsides made one change to the starting XI for the clash against Boroondara, bringing Matthew Bozinovski into the centre of defence in place of Ryan Lethlean.
Match Report
From the very start, Melbourne Victory displayed their intent to dominate proceedings and it didn’t take long for them to find the net.
In the 4th minute, Eli Adams embarked on a penetrating run into the box and with a smart pass found Jordi Valadon, who slid the ball under the goalkeeper’s reach, giving Victory a fantastic start to the game.
As they aimed to extend their lead, Valadon continued to be a pivotal figure in Melbourne Victory’s attacking play. In the 8th minute, he drove forward dangerously from midfield and shot from the edge of the box but it was blocked by the Boroondara defence.
The 20th minute saw Eli Adams unleash a powerful shot, only to be thwarted by an excellent save from the Boroondara goalkeeper, who managed to keep Victory’s advantage at bay.
The Eagles came close to equalizing in the 23rd minute, an excellent delivery from a corner caused chaos inside the six-yard box. Amongst the confusion the ball found its way to a Boroondara player whose shot rattled against the crossbar.
However, it was Victory’s relentless display that paid off once again in the 28th minute. Josh Inserra provided an excellent defence-splitting ball to Eli Adams. With great composure, he calmly stroked the ball home with his left foot from inside the box, adding to Melbourne Victory’s lead.
Adams continued to be a thorn in the Eagles side. He consistently tormented his defender and almost doubled his tally with a curling shot that narrowly missed the target.
In the 48th minute Jordi Valadon twisted and turned inside the Boroondara box before firing a low shot through a sea of bodies. However, the goalkeeper produced an outstanding save, denying Victory from increasing their advantage.
Six minutes later, in a carbon copy of their second goal, Inserra once again provided a well-executed assist to Eli Adams, who found the back of the net with a superbly curled shot.
The later stages of the game saw several great saves from Victory’s goalkeeper, Ahmad Taleb. The custodian displayed his shot-stopping abilities, making some excellent saves to maintain the team’s clean sheet and keep the 3-0 score line intact.
The full-time whistle blew to finish off an impressive all-around performance from Victory, keeping their clean sheet and scoring three times to remain one of the teams to beat in NPL3.
three times to remain one of the teams to beat in NPL3.
Post-match reaction: Head Coach, Joe Palatsides
On the match:
“It was a good game by the boys, we were very wary of Boroondara’s strengths and we wanted to make sure we nullified them as much as we could.”
“The boys controlled the game well for the majority. We kept them away from any dangerous situations, in the second half they came at us a bit but I thought we showed a lot of resilience.”
“We had a good 3-0 win and I think it was fully deserved.”
On the attacking performance:
“The boys are looking a lot more comfortable with the style of play and the methodology that we use.”
“They look very comfortable now with the way we’re playing and the quality of young boys coming through, Jordi Valadon, Alex Menelaou, Will Wilson, all combining together, sets the stage for something good in terms of a team performance.”
“I’m really pleased with the way we’ve gone about it.”
Next Up
Victory head to John Mcewan Reserve in Shepparton on Saturday 27 May to take on Goulburn Valley Suns, kicking off at 3pm AEST.
Match Summary
Melbourne Victory 3 (Valadon 4’, Adams 28’, 54’)
Boroondara-Carey Eagles 0
Melbourne Victory U23s starting XI: Ahmad Taleb (GK), Josh Inserra, Matthew Bozinovski, Franco Lino, Alex Menelaou ©, Adem Duratovic, Jordi Valadon, Austin Ganino, Marc Latsis, Will Wilson, Eli Adams