1. Newcastle Jets 2-2 Melbourne Victory – Round 5 – 2007/08 – 21st September 2007

4 draws from the opening 4 games saw Melbourne lingering in the bottom half of the Hyundai A-League table, only a win would of bumped the reigning a champions up the ladder. They took on a Newcastle Jets team who were starting to get into gear on what was going to be a one-of-a-kind season for the Hunter Valley outfit.

A tense game indeed, Newcastle started off brilliantly when Adam Griffiths took advantage of dreadful Victory defending from a corner in the 4th minute to make the game 1-0 to the hosts. Newcastle doubled their lead through Stuart Musialik 17 minutes later. Musialik carried the ball into the Melbourne half, and without any pressure he curled a ball around keeper Michael Theoklitos with the outside of his boot into the bottom corner. All seemed to be over for Melbourne but a header from Archie Thompson on 63 minutes and a mazy Adrian Caceres run in the last 10 minutes of the game brought Victory back on level terms to hand each team a well deserved point.

The Jets went on to win the Grand Final beating their F3 rivals, Central Coast Mariners. Whilst Melbourne failed to make the finals for the second time in their history.

2. Melbourne Victory 2-2 Adelaide United – Round 16 – 2007/08 – 8th December 2007

10 months on from the infamous 6-0 drubbing, Ettihad Stadium braced itself for another crazy and memorable fixture. Melbourne had been struggling for goals and wins and were pushing for a finals spot. Adelaide also went into the game struggling in form, with 1 win in their previous 5 games the Reds were in with a chance of missing out on the Finals Series for the first time.

Adelaide started off the better of the two teams. A Dez Giraldi half volley hit the woodwork and fell into the path of Paul Agostino who tapped the ball in to put the visitors in front. Adelaide doubled their lead in the 47th minute when Agostino headed in from close range. All looked lost for the defending champions, however a glimpse of hope was given to the hosts when Tomi Milardovic brought down Archie Thompson inside the box to hand Melbourne Victory a penalty. Kevin Muscat stepped up and as always slotted the ball home to make the game 2-1 with 19 minutes to go. Just as the game slipped into extra time, Melbourne got a free kick outside the 18-yard box. Carlos Hernandez whipped the ball in, it skinned off the head of Reds defender Richie Alagich and into the back of the net.

Melbourne kept their finals hopes alive, however it was not enough come the end of the season where they missed out on a finals spot by 3points. Adelaide also fell short of a spot in the finals in what was an unusual year in the A-League.

3. Sydney FC 1-2 Melbourne Victory – Round 8 – 2006/07 – 21st October 2006

Melbourne’s unbeaten start to the 2006/07 campaign came to a halt when Adelaide United stole three points from the boys in blue the previous weekend. The question posed in the lead up to the big Sydney derby was if Melbourne were going fold under the expectations and pressure just like they did the previous season. In 2005/06 after defeating Sydney 5-0 in Round 10, Melbourne only won 3 games in the last 13 games of the season.

The mid-season slumped looked certain when Steve Corica opened the scoring for the Sky Blues in the 10th minute. Following catching a Melbourne free kick, Sydney keeper Clint Bolton quickly released the ball to Iain Fyfe who played in Corica, he carried the ball into the Melbourne final third and put the ball in the back of the net. Melbourne came out all guns firing in the second half and equalized in the 50th minute through Archie Thompson. Wing play from Brazilian playmaker Fred saw him find Adrian Caceres who whipped in a good ball for Thompson to header the ball home and complete a famous turn around for Melbourne 17 minutes from time.

Come the end of the season Victory swept all before them and did the famous double, winning the Premiership in record time and the A-League Championship with a 6-0 drubbing of Adelaide in the Grand Final.

4. Adelaide United 2-3 Melbourne Victory – Round 10 – 2008/09 – 31st October 2008

Another bad run of matches for Melbourne leading up to this Halloween-night clash. Following looses to Sydney at home and Newcastle away, Melbourne’s chances of winning the Premiership were slipping away. Adelaide were the main contenders for the Premiership along with Melbourne, so this game had more than 3 points on the line.

One of the most controversial moments in the history of the A-League occurred in the 25th minute of the game. A mis-cross by Scott Jamieson found striker Cristiano having to track back into the edge of the 18-yard box, as he attempted to get past Rodrigo Vargas the Brazilian striker dived conning the referee to give Adelaide a penalty. After two attempts captain Travis Dodd managed to give Adelaide the lead. A 53rd minute penalty put Melbourne level however Cassio put the Reds ahead again in the 66th minute after a beautiful free kick. A 3 minute span between the 81st and 84th minute saw Melbourne cling two goals to take out the contest, first another penalty from Kevin Muscat put the game at 2-2 and Billy Celeski slotted the ball in the back of the net too gain all 3 points for Melbourne.

Everything in football evens itself out in the long run. Come the following February in the Grand Final, Cristiano was sent off inside 10 minutes for elbowing Vargas in a highly controversial match.

5. Melbourne Victory 3-3 Brisbane Roar – Round 2 – 2009/10 – 15th August 2009

Coming off home losses in the opening weekend of the 2009/10 season, Melbourne Victory and Brisbane Roar were looking to start their campaigns with a win. What they didn’t expect was the goal fest that was about to unveil in front of them.

Brisbane started off the game in great fashion with Danny Tiatto opening the scoring with a magnificent long range effort in the 22nd minute. Sergio Van Dijk doubled the score 2 minutes later from the penalty spot. 10 minutes later Carlos Hernandez scored an unstoppable goal better than Tiatto’s strike earlier on. From outside the 18-yard boxed, Hernandez caught the loose ball and stuck in the top right corner. Unfortunately for Melbourne there was no leading up as Henrique lived up to his nickname ‘The Slippery Fish’ by taking on a couple of Melbourne defenders and curling one past Victory Keeper Glen Moss. After the break it was all Melbourne and they got their reward in the 60th minute as a Carlos Hernandez ball was whipped into the box; striker Danny Allsopp and defender Luke DeVere contested the ball, it ricocheted off the head of DeVere and as it came down Allsopp caught it on the volley and smashed it home on what was going to be his final goal for Melbourne before his move to Qatar. No sooner than 10 minutes later Hernandez emerged again on the score sheet with yet another beautiful goal, this time a free kick to level the game at 3-3.

This was to be a successful season for Melbourne, despite loosing the Grand Final on penalties and the Premiers Plate by one point they surpassed expectations as they lost key man through out the season. On the other hand Brisbane finished second last and under achieved to what was expected of them.

Click Here for part 2

Rostyn Griffiths and Daniel McBreen were on target as they defeated Melbourne Victory 2-0 in front of 6,829 fans, Friday night at Bluetongue Stadium.

Both newcomers to the squad this season got their first goals for the club on either side of the break which contributed to their visitors slowest start to an A-League season in their 6 year history.

Griffiths opened the scoring in the 21st minute after a free kick whilst McBreen secured the points in the 50th minute.

The former North Queensland Fury man, Griffiths, rose high above others from a Michael McGlinchey cross to head the ball past Victory keeper Michael Petkovic into the corner of the goal.

Victory started off the better of the two teams with their usual passing up to standard, however the defensive duo of Alex Wilkinson and Patrick Zwaanswijk denied Melbourne of a final pass inside the defensive third.

Carlos Hernandez wasn’t up to normal standards which hurt Victory. The positive out of the game for Ernie Merrick’s man however is that Brazilian import Ricardinho was given a 40 minute run out with his new team mates and signs of a prominent partnership with the Costa Rican playmaker are imminent.

The Brazilian struggled to make an impact on the game, however he had a clear cut opportunity which he should of put away. Hernandez whipped in a magnificent ball into the edge of the 6 yard box which invited Ricardinho to header it home from point blank range. However he headed over the bar.

As always Melbourne held all the ball but could not convert possession into goals. Time will tell if the addition of Ricardinho will be whats needed to start putting more goals away, however if Melbourne want to mount up a serious challenge this season for Silverware little mistakes at the back will need to be fixed.

Melbourne face in-form Brisbane Roar next Sunday at AAMI Park followed by a mid week fixture, Wednesday night against Wellington Phoenix yet again at AAMI Park.

FULL TIME RESULT
Central Coast Mariners 2 (Griffiths 20, McBreen 50)
Melbourne Victory 0

Melbourne Victory’s new Brazilian import Ricardinho has finally received his international clearance and will debut against the Central Coast Mariners tomorrow night.

The Brazilian ace signed two weeks ago from Brazilian 4th division side Oeste where he netted 2 goals in 14 appearances for the Sao Paulo based club.

Ricardinho will replace Evan Berger who is out injured. Billy Celeski also returns, while Tom Pondeljak and Matthew Foschini are both promoted back into the line up.

Form Guide
Central Coast haven’t won since their opening day win over the Melbourne Heart and have since picked up two draws against Adelaide, Sydney and a loss away to Wellington. The Mariners haven’t won at home since their 3-0 trouncing of their F3 neighbours Newcastle in February of this year. The strikers issue perhaps is starting to become a bit of a problem for the Gosford based club, the current strikers of Matt Simon, Daniel McBreen, Adam Kwasnik and Nik Mrdja have one goal between them out of 3 scored so far this season

Melbourne look to follow up on their impressive 1-0 win over Gold Coast United last week. The team travel to Gosford with an impressive record of having lost only 2 games in Gosford out of a possible 7.

The Manager
Graham Arnold took charge of the Mariners in the off-season as Lawrie McKinna took a role in the Administration part of the Mariners. Arnold brings 10 years of international management experience into the Mariners and this season he will be looking to put behind two poor runs as Olyroos and Socceroos manager behind him and start fresh new on the club scene.

In and Outs
Argentine import Patricio Perez is suspended for two weeks following the diving controversy last week in Sydney. The FFA cracked down hard on strikers during the week following two match-changing dives in the Melbourne Heart-Perth Glory and Sydney-Central Coast games. Jess Vanstrattan is out for the rest of the year following a training injury that damaged his ACL.

Melbourne go into the game unchanged from their win in Gold Coast minus Nick Ward. The midfield signed for Wellington during the week in a transfer that takes place immediately.

Star Man
Oliver Bozanic is back in Australia following 3 years in the lower leagues of England. A Socceroos debut against Ireland in 2009 has left the former Reading man hungry for more and will be looking to impress Socceroo boss Holger Osieck.

Robbie Kruse has put in two good shifts for Melbourne ever since his return from injury. The striker making his 50th appearance in the Hyundai A-League is looking to score his 10th Hyundai A-League goal. His partnership with Mate Dugandzic is proving to be hard for defences to keep handle due to their pace and runs in behind them, if Melbourne are half smart in their approach they should be looking to expose the Mariner’s high defence line.

Referee
The referee for the contest is Chris Beath. He will be refereeing his 36th game in the A-League.

Victory Bogeyman
Matt Simon. The 6’2 striker has been a thorn for Victory ever since his debut in 2006. Notching 4 goals in 6 appearances for Central Coast against the Victory and as it stands Melbourne have never won a game in which Simon has scored.

Last time these two met Melbourne ran out 3-0 winners courtesy of goals from Carlos Hernandez, Matthew Kemp and an own goal from Nigel Boogard

AAMI Park Connections
Nik Mrdja joined Victory during the tail end of last season on loan. The Melbourne-born striker joined for the last 2 home-and-away season matches, finals and Asian Champions League. Mrdja scored 1 goal in the Major Semi-Final in Melbourne but was also sent off in that game for elbowing Shannon Cole.

Prediction
Victory will continue their winning run with a 2-0 win.

Ward signed for Melbourne in December 2007 after his contract with English Championship side QPR was terminated.

He made his debut for Melbourne coming on at half time in a 3-1 loss at home to Newcastle on the 16th December, 2007. His first goal came almost a month later in 3-0 win against the Wellington Phoenix.

Over his time with Melbourne, Ward has made important contributions to the side that won the 2008/09 Pre-Season Cup, A-League Premiership and A-League Championship. Those contributions include scoring the winner in a 1-0 against Adelaide United and the equalizer in a tense 3-2 comeback win against arch rivals Sydney FC.

At last it has come, Melbourne Victory have finally picked up their first 3 points of the Hyundai A-League season thanks to a wonderful combination of Carlos Hernandez and Robbie Kruse.

Over the course of the first half Melbourne were the better composed team. Several opportunities fell Melbourne’s way, however it was not until the 20th minute that their pressure paid off. Carlos Hernandez slipped a through ball to Robbie Kruse who rounded former Victory keeper Glen Moss and finished from an acute angle to give Victory the lead.

Melbourne had another close chance in the closing stages of the first half as Carlos Hernandez lined up a free kick directly in front of the 18-yard box. The Costa Rican who notched 13 goals last season hit the free kick a little over the bar.

In the second half Melbourne were pushed back by the home side, although not clear chances they were still good enough to put Melbourne hearts in mouth. However the best chance fell to Melbourne. Leigh Broxham had a scruffy header cleared of the line by Zenon Caravella.

Melbourne were happy to sit back and absorb pressure from the Gold Coast but superior numbers behind the ball made it hard for a young and in-experience young Gold Coast outfit.

After 3 attempts Victory have finally got their campaign started and will be looking to follow up on this win against the Central Coast Mariners in next week in Gosford.

FULL TIME RESULT
Gold Coast United 0 – 1 Melbourne Victory (Kruse 20)

Following a week off Gold Coast United will be hoping to win their first 3 points of the season against a Melbourne Victory side desperate to get 3 points on the board.

Form Guide
Gold Coast played out a 0-0 draw with Brisbane Roar in the opening weekend of the season, followed by a comeback 3-3 draw in Wellington. 2 out of the 3 goals so far this season came from Shane Smeltz, the Kiwi striker struck twice in the draw away to Wellington, however United will have to do without him as he flew out to Europe to join Turkish side Genclerbirligi.

A loss for Melbourne would make this season their slowest start to a season since the inception of the A-League. Victory will be looking to make up for the 2 points dropped last week at home in a case of bad referee calls and missed opportunities. With 90 minutes under his belt, Robbie Kruse wants to score his first goal of the 2010/11 campaign, last time these two met Kruse was carried off injured with a dislocated shoulder after a hit from Steve Pantelidis.

The Manager
Headline-machine Miron Bleiberg has been quiet this season, but he knows that the pressure will be on to win silverware this year knowing that a trophy less season will not be enough to keep his job. His squad is pretty much unchanged from last season except for a couple of new signings and new players added from the reserves.

In and Outs
Gold Coast will be displaying their newest signing on Sunday night; 31-year-old former Manchester United defender John Curtis has overcome the injuries that sidelined him at the start of the season. The defender made 13 appearances for the Red Devils between 1995 and 2000 before being loaned out to Barnsley. Daniel Piorkowski misses out with an injured ankle as well as Matthew Osman who is out for the rest of the season with a knee injury.

Victory bring in 4 players into the squad that drew with North Queensland last week. Billy Celeski returns from a knee injury that was feared to keep him out for longer, Grant Brebner returns from a small injury. Nick Ward and Matthew Foschini are both promoted into the squad. Archie Thompson and Matthew Kemp miss out through long-term injuries.

Star Man
Gold Coast captain and Socceroo Jason Culina will be posing serious questions of the Melbourne back line that has conceded 7 goals in its opening 3 games. The 52 time capped Australian international already has 1 goal this season and with the Asian Cup around the corner Culina wants to impress new Australian coach Holger Osieck.

Its simple, if Carlos Hernandez has a good game then Melbourne will win. The Costa Rican international has had a quiet start to the season, so he will be looking for a blinding game this week. He will also be looking to impress new Costa Rica coach Ricardo Lavolpe.

Referee
Refereeing his 58th Hyundai A-League game Ben Williams will be looking for a calm afternoon. Last time these two sides met ended with suspensions, controversies and injuries due to rough play. Last time he took over a Gold Coast game, the Queensland based club lost 2-1 to Townsville rivals North Queensland Fury.

Victory Bogeyman
Dino Djulbic. Melbourne have never won a game with Djulbic involved. During his spell with Perth Glory and Gold Coast. Djulbic’s record with Melbourne stands at 4 wins 1 draw.

AAMI Park Connections
Out of their 23 man squad, 4 current players have come from the Victory. Glen Moss, Michael Thwaite, Steve Pantelidis and Daniel Piorkowski have at some time played for Melbourne.

Daniel Piorkowski made 30 appearances for Melbourne over an injury-scarred run from 2005 till 2008. He was an integral member of the 2006/07 Championship winning squad up until an injury halted his season. He moved on in 2008 to Newcastle Jets.

Steve Pantelidis also joined Melbourne in 2005 and made 58 appearances for Melbourne including one in the 6-0 drubbing of Adelaide United in the 2006/07 Grand Final. He holds two A-league Championship medals but made no appearances in the 2008/09 season. He signed for Gold Coast the following season.

Michael Thwaite signed for Melbourne in the pre-season following the 2007/08 campaign. He joined Victory from Norwegian side SK Brann following 5 years overseas. He played 16 times for Melbourne and holds a winners medal.

Glen Moss made 14 appearances for Victory after having played for Wellington Phoenix and the New Zealand Knights. He signed a 2-year deal with Gold Coast at the start of the season to replace Jess Vanstrattan as Gold Coast’s #1.

Prediction
Too close to call, but for all Melbourne fans hopefully Victory will grind out a close 1-0 win.

Uganda international Eugene Sseppuya opened the scoring for the Fury in the 14th minute after a goal scramble from a free kick. However the game went into full gear when in-form midfielder Chris Grossman received a straight red card by debutant ref Chris Boyle for brining down Robbie Kruse in the box. As always Kevin Muscat stood up and slotted the penalty straight down the middle of the goal.

Melbourne had all the possession in the second half, but it took until the 75th for Melbourne to take advantage. Substitute Geoff Kallaway was brought down on the edge of the penalty box by Osama Malik. Muscat stepped up and made it 2-1.

Minutes later referee Boyle awarded a harsh penalty to the Fury after Diogo Ferreira was adjudged to grab hold of Mark Hughes. In the commotion, Fury were left with 9 man when Eric Akoto was sent off for pushing Kevin Muscat. Payne slotted the penalty home to make it 2-2.

The atmosphere inside AAMI Park was a very hostile one. The constant time wasting of Fury keeper Justin Pasfield and the lack of action against him by referee Chris Boyle brought out a loud chorus of boos every time the Fury number one touched the ball. However it was the booking of Mate Dugandzic and Robbie Kruse for simulation that got the crowd against the Scottish referee. Early in the second half Dugandzic, was taken out from behind by Adam Casey and moments later Kruse by Chris Payne, the debutant referee waved away both protests and went on to book the Melbourne forwards, even though the replay showed that there was enough contact on both cases.

For the remainder of the game the Fury were pinned back and were left to deal with constant attacks from Melbourne. Perhaps an element of luck went Fury’s way with Dugandzic hitting the post and Adrian Leijer missing a golden chance in injury time.

Considering the amount of possession Victory had they will consider that perhaps a win should of been the outcome coach Ernie Merrick pointed out.

“We’ve pretty well dominated the game. With 28 shots on goal, you really have to show something for it. Our shooting was pretty much disgraceful. We had enough chances to the win the game.”

Irrelevant of the result the main talking point out of this match was the bust up that led to Akoto’s sending off. Not much is known as to what Muscat said to Akoto but North Queensland Assistant Manager Stuart McLaren said that they may take the matter to the Match Review Panel.

“From what we understand, there’s been a certain amount of provocation. Obviously we are not little schoolboys. That goes on on the pitch and some people are better at it than others. What’s exactly been said, we’ll have to get to the bottom of,” he said.

“It would have taken a fair bit for him to react like that, because he’s a fairly cool, calm and collected customer as a personality. His level of experiences as well, he’s been in a lot more difficult circumstances than he had been today across his career.”

Muscat denied the claims and said Akoto purely reacted to being sent off.

“I was having a bit of banter with him right throughout the game. He kept kicking the ball out and
I kept reminding him about it. He reacted,” Muscat said.

“He will go around making stories up and accusations just because he’s got himself sent off. As far as I’m concerned he deserved to be sent off and that’s it, finished.”

Whether anything is taken up will not be known for a couple of days. However Victory have got to get rid of this loss out of their system before next Sundays blockbuster against Gold Coast United.

FULL TIME RESULT
Melbourne Victory 2 (Muscat 30,75)
N. Queensland Fury 2 (Sseppuya 14, Payne 82)

After a shock defeat last week at AAMI Park, Melbourne look to bounce back against top of the table Fury.

Form Guide: North Queensland haven’t won a game on the road since October 31st, 2009, however they go into this game with renewed confidence, a comeback draw against Perth Glory in round 1 and an impressive win over reigning champions Sydney FC last week sets up the Fury well to cause a massive upset at AAMI Park.

Melbourne on the other hand have dropped points in both of their last 2 matches and they will be looking to get last weeks loss out of their system with three points on Sunday. Inclusions of 2 new squad members during the week plus the return of one of the strikers will give much needed confidence for Victory.

Managers: Franz Straka is slowly becoming an A-League icon. His cream, stripped jacket and his energetic charisma is just what the Fury needed. A win in Melbourne would put the Fury back in pole position. If Franz can keep a consistent level of good performances and can continue to shock the A-League with his young team, the Fury will become a competitive team.

Ernie Merrick will be hoping that all the Victory possession will soon turn to goals. The addition of new players into the squad will bolster the chances. This will be Ernie Merrick’s 122nd match in charge of the big V.

In and Outs: Franz Straka promotes new signing Brad McDonald to the squad as well as Panagiotis Nikas, Jack Hingert, Brett Studman and Jason Spagnuolo. Andrew Kilian is still a couple of weeks away with injury.

Melbourne finally can welcome back Robbie Kruse into the squad from injury, new signing Geoff Kellaway will be making his debut for Victory. Nick Ward and Matthew Foschini and both promoted into the team.

Billy Celeski misses out due to injury sustained to his damaged knee during the week, whilst new signing Ricardinho is also out, he is due to make his debut in 2-3 weeks time according to Ernie Merrick.

Star Man: David Williams has been the Fury’s standout player this season so far. Having scored one on the opening weekend, Williams will be looking to get a brace against an experienced Victory back line.

Robbie Kruse will be hoping to notch a goal on his first appearance of the season. The 21 year old missed the opening two of games of the season through a hamstring injury. Hopefully for Victory he will find his form of last season, which mounted 5 goals in 25 appearances.

Referee: Referee Chris Boyle will be making his debut Hyundai A-League game. The 38-year old Scottish man arrived in Australia in October last year. He has vast experience having refereed in Scotland the likes of Celtic and Rangers. He also has experience in the Champions League.

Prediction: Melbourne will bring home 3 points for the first time this season with a 2-0 over the Fury.

The 26 year old signed a 2 year deal with the club and will fill the marquee international spot.

Having played all his life in his homeland the São Paulo native moved to K-League side Jeju United in 2009 where he had an impressive goalscoring record.

He will wear the vacant number 9 shirt formerly of Danny Allsopp.