Victory, Roar battle to a stalemate

Updated December 15, 2012 23:09:12

A former hero at one A-League club thwarted his old side as Melbourne Victory drew 1-1 with Brisbane Roar - but it wasn't Ange Postecoglou.

Roar goalkeeper Michael Theo, a two-time championship winner at Melbourne Victory before joining Brisbane, stole the show at AAMI Park on Saturday night with several important saves.

Victory coach Postecoglou's hopes of securing a win over his former club were scuttled virtually single-handedly by Theo in a superb goalkeeping performance.

Two important stops from Marco Rojas shots in the first half were followed by a world-class save in the 74th minute to deny Gui Finkler - and what would have been a win for the Victory.

The Victory totally controlled the opening 20 minutes, with Rojas running amok and the Roar looking clueless.

But the Victory's wobbly defence - their problem all season - found a new and inventive way to leak a goal against the run of play after 24 minutes.

Full-back Diogo Ferreira's fresh air swing at a ball across goal gave Roar striker Ben Halloran a half-chance, and he punished the Victory with the superb finish they had been unable to find to that point.

The Roar controlled the remainder of the first half and maintained their 1-0 lead to half-time, before the home side equalised four minutes after the break.

Midfielder Mark Milligan's thunderous shot from the edge of the 18-yard-box from a Finkler pass levelled the scores and again changed the momentum of the game.

The Victory had the best chance to win it, but after Finkler brilliantly turned a defender in the box, he was denied by Theo's remarkable one-handed save from point-blank range.

Then Theo stood up again to block Archie Thompson's shot just minutes later, and ensure the Roar a share of the points as their defence held firm under a late match onslaught.

The Roar's night was soured with injuries to star striker Besart Berisha and midfielder Mitch Nichols - Berisha's shoulder looking particularly concerning.

The Albanian landed awkwardly in a second-half tangle with Victory centre-back Adrian Leijer, and Roar coach Rado Vidosic said the injury "doesn't look good".

Berisha is likely to have scans when the team arrive back in Queensland on Sunday.

Postecoglou said he wasn't dwelling on what were perhaps two points dropped, rather the quality of football his side played for most of the match.

"Our football was great. I thought in general terms it was a step forward for us, which was important," Postecoglou said.

"(The goal) was an individual mistake. It didn't come from structure, it was one of those things that can happen on the football field to anyone.

"The first half-hour was as good as we've played all year.

"The real goal for us is to continue to develop our football so that when it does all click and it gets to the business end of the year and we're amongst it, we're playing some good football."

Melbourne Victory: 1 (Milligan 49')

Brisbane Roar: 1 (Halloran 24')

AAP

Tags: sport, soccer, a-league, brisbane-4000, qld, melbourne-3000, vic, australia

First posted December 15, 2012 19:59:24

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Victory battle back for first win

Updated October 20, 2012 15:39:12

All week Melbourne Victory have been shaken, and finally they stirred to give new coach Ange Postecoglou his first win in charge of the A-League heavyweights on Friday night.

The Victory came from behind to beat arch-rivals Adelaide United 2-1 at Docklands, ending the Reds' unbeaten start to the season.

Trailing to a Dario Vidosic penalty after 49 minutes, the Victory equalised through a strong Mark Milligan header three minutes later.

Then New Zealand international Marco Rojas scored the winner in the 67th minute after punishing some comical Adelaide defending.

Postecoglou was pleased with his side's improved performance, believing desire was the key to the Victory getting all three points.

"The first two weeks we weren't determined, we weren't resilient, probably the desire wasn't as great as it should be," Postecoglou said.

"We were more solid tonight. We've still got a lot of work to do on our football.

"The boys handled it pretty well tonight.

"We were compact, we played out when we had it. When we didn't, we didn't get exposed."

"We were a lot more determined in everything we did."

The win comes after a tumultuous six days in which the Victory were embarrassed 5-0 by Postecoglou's old club Brisbane Roar, striker Danny Allsopp retired on Thursday, and the new coach wielded the axe with five changes to his starting side.

He put his faith in returning internationals Archie Thompson, Milligan and Rojas and dumped goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas and import midfielder Jonathan Bru.

His decision to pair Milligan and Billy Celeski in central midfield immediately gave the Victory more purpose and shape in a first half in which both sides had their chances.

The best fell to Adelaide attacker Jeronimo, but he shot wide on 43 minutes when one-on-one with goalkeeper Tando Velaphi.

But the Reds were in front four minutes after half-time when Celeski needlessly handled the ball in the box, gifting Vidosic a spot-kick he coolly slotted home.

The Victory levelled things up when Milligan, who only returned from Socceroos duty on Thursday morning, powered home a header from a Gui Finkler corner.

Then Adelaide defender Nigel Boogaard was caught in limbo, pushing an Archie Thompson cross against the woodwork.

Rojas nodded the loose ball but also hit the bar, before finally volleying the rebound into the back of the net.

Milligan was the outstanding player on the pitch - putting in a tireless shift breaking down and creating attacks with regularity, as well as his important goal.

Adelaide was best served by defender Anthony Golec and hard-working midfielder Osama Malik.

Coach John Kosmina said he believed his side could have at least pinched a point, if not all three - lamenting Jeronimo's squandered chance just prior to half-time.

"You miss chances like that against a team like Melbourne, generally you pay a price later on and we did," Kosmina said.

Melbourne Victory: 2 (M Milligan 52', M Rojas 68)

Adelaide United: 1 (D Vidosic 50' pen)

AAP

Tags: a-league, soccer, sport, melbourne-3000, vic, australia, adelaide-5000, sa

First posted October 19, 2012 21:37:43

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Blackpool, West Ham to battle for EPL promotion

Updated May 10, 2012 08:33:45

Blackpool thwarted a late rally by Birmingham City in their Championship semi-final play-off, drawing 2-2 to clinch a 3-2 aggregate victory and set up a high-stakes promotion final with West Ham United next week.

Goals either side of half-time by Steven Dobbie and Matt Phillips put the visitors 2-0 up in the second leg but Birmingham refused to be beaten on the night and fought back through Nikola Zigic and Curtis Davies.

Defender Davies ensured a nerve-jangling finish when his powerful close-range header in the 73rd minute made up for his own goal in the first leg.

"I'm so proud of my players," Blackpool manager Ian Holloway told Sky Sports.

"That was a fantastic fightback by Birmingham and it was all so exciting that I had to ask someone what the score was.

"It's all over now though. We did it and we are going to Wembley."

West Ham, relegated last season along with Blackpool and Birmingham, take on Holloway's team at Wembley on May 19 for a place in the Premier League in a tussle known as the 'richest club match in football' due to the enormous financial rewards for promotion to the top flight.

"This has been a real tough day for us," said Birmingham manager Chris Hughton.

"I've just walked away from a devastated dressing room - we all feel that way because it's been a long, hard season.

"We've had lots of ups and downs, lots of emotion, and it makes it even tougher when you get so close to reaching the final and miss out."

Reuters

Tags: english-premier, english-lower, soccer, sport, england, united-kingdom

First posted May 10, 2012 08:33:45

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