Victory snap losing streak

Updated January 08, 2012 09:20:53

Melbourne Victory showed incoming coach Jim Magilton he will have plenty to work with, climbing temporarily into the top six with a 2-1 win over 10-man Newcastle Jets at AAMI Park.

Two own goals to luckless Jets defender Byun Sung-Hwan sealed the Victory's win as the home side put aside Friday's sacking of coach Mehmet Durakovic to snap a three-match losing streak.

While there was luck in the goals, there was class in the performance and promise for the newly-appointed Magilton he can potentially guide Victory to the finals in the club's remaining 12 matches.

With ex-Northern Ireland international Magilton watching on from the stands ahead of starting his role on Monday, assistant coach Kevin Muscat took the reins and his tactical tweaking added some cutting edge.

Muscat paid tribute to his players' ability to rise above the difficulties and show they could still prove a finals wrecking ball.

And he says Magilton had some input into the style the team played, using extra thrust from wide positions.

"It's been a tough couple of days, an emotional couple of days, but the nature of our business is you have to pick yourself up and I thought that's what the boys did tonight," Muscat said.

"I thought we were threatening right throughout the night, the first half especially.

"I spoke to the gaffer this morning. It was more about discussing football in general ... but he did have input on a few things, yes."

Danny Allsopp, promoted to the starting line-up and used as a wide attacker by Muscat, was excellent all night while Kewell played mainly on the left and was busy and inventive throughout.

The duo combined for the Victory's opener on seven minutes, Kewell's superb cross turned by Byun into his own net under pressure from Allsopp.

In an end-to-end match with chances galore, the Jets had two excellent chances to equalise within a minute midway through the first half.

Goalkeeper Ante Covic made two important saves, stopping Ryan Griffiths header before snaffling a Labinot Haliti volley after a deft Griffiths chip set him free.

Soon after Victory striker Archie Thompson hit the post to cap a frenetic few minutes.

But with the Jets still in the match, it changed complexion in the second half when defender Tarek Elrich was sent off in the 53rd minute for a foul on goal-bound Allsopp.

Referee Ryan Shepheard brandished a red card, convinced Elrich had denied Allsopp a clear goalscoring opportunity as the last defender.

Then Byun had the misfortune to find himself in the way of another dangerous cross, this time from Thompson in Kewell's direction in the 74th minute.

The ball across goal struck Byun running at full pace, deflecting the ball into the net to give the home side a 2-0 lead.

The Jets gave themselves a glimmer of hope with Byun creating a goal with five minutes remaining, superbly taken by Ryan Griffiths.

But the Victory was able to hang on and climb into the top six, though there are three matches this round scheduled for Sunday.

Jets coach Gary van Egmond was pleased with his side's performance despite the loss, believing his players could take a lot out of the performance despite slipping out of the top six as a result.

"It's definitely a case of just keep on working on the training pitch and buying into what we're talking about," he said.

"It was a better performance than [the mid-week win] against Gold Coast."

Melbourne Victory: 2 (B Sung-Hwan 7' OG, 75' OG)

Newcastle Jets: 1 (R Griffiths 85')

AAP

Tags: sport, soccer, a-league, melbourne-3000, newcastle-2300

First posted January 07, 2012 22:01:33

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Stunning Roar end losing run

Updated January 01, 2012 09:37:20

A-League champions Brisbane Roar emphatically snapped their five-match losing streak and ended Melbourne Victory's annus horribilis with a painful 3-1 defeat.

Not even a magic third-minute goal by Harry Kewell could put a smile on Victory faces, as the Roar rediscovered their mojo in dramatic fashion at Lang Park.

The Roar ran rampant over the visitors after turned the match in an incredible 10-minute blitz which netted three quality goals to the delight of the 14,852-strong crowd.

With wing-back Ivan Franjic starring in a modified formation, the injury-depleted Roar broke the shackles after playmaker Mitch Nichols finally found the back of the net just before half-time.

While Brisbane had continued to dominate possession in its run of defeats, it had lost the precision finishing that was a hallmark of its national record 36-match unbeaten streak.

Nichols' brilliant header sparked a burst which included goals to Rocky Visconte and Franjic off the back of some inspired passing by striker Besart Berisha.

Franjic's 53rd-minute goal prompted an animated celebration by usually-reserved coach Ange Postecoglou, who had been under pressure to tweak his possession-at-all-costs game plan.

Postecoglou was delighted for his players to finish a wonderful 2011 in style after their club-record losing streak.

"It's nice to see some smiles on people's faces as it's been a tough little grind this one," he said.

"It's a great way to end the year because it's been a great year for us and it would have left a bitter-taste if we hadn't seen off the year as we should as winners."

Man-of-the-match Franjic was outstanding throughout, tormenting a Victory defence missing captain Adrian Leijer (groin).

"A performance like that, after going 1-0 down, just shows the courage and character of the boys," Franjic said after the match.

"It's just great."

The Roar's joy was in marked contrast to Melbourne's torment as fuming Costa Rican midfielder Carlos Hernandez kicked over his chair and a water bottle after being replaced.

The result could not have been predicted when Kewell struck his first goal from open play after 11 matches in the A-League.

Although the Socceroos star has been well off his best for the Victory, the spectacular strike was worth the wait.

The match was just over two minutes old when the 33-year-old Kewell latched on to a backpass missed by Roar skipper Matt Smith and swiftly took it towards the box where he unleashed a booming left-footer that gave a diving Michael Theoklitos no chance.

Coming at a time when Kewell's position in the Melbourne forward line is being questioned due to his fading pace, it was the perfect riposte by the marquee man.

But it was the only moment of inspiration for the Victory in the opening half as third-placed Brisbane dominated possession and had nine shots on goal to one before Nichols struck gold.

Melbourne, which has been beset by backroom problems before and after Ernie Merrick was sacked as coach late last season, now sits two points off last place.

Coach Mehmet Durakovic admitted his side sorely missed Leijer's experience at the back but mostly rued the soft turnover of possession which led to Nichols' equaliser.

"We started off really, really well and then gave a silly ball away two minutes before half-time and they punished us for it," Durakovic said.

"Then the next 25 minutes in the second half they were all over us and absolutely dominated play in the midfield and we weren't up to it to be fair.

"They're a very good side and sooner or later they were going to punish a team."

Brisbane Roar: 3 (Nichols 44', Visconte 50', Franjic 53')

Melbourne Victory: 1 (Kewell 3')

AAP

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

First posted December 31, 2011 22:35:43

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Mariners extend Roar's losing streak

Mike Tuckerman

Updated December 17, 2011 23:37:37

Brisbane Roar have slumped to a club record-equalling fourth straight defeat, falling 2-1 to the Central Coast Mariners in Brisbane on Saturday night.

Down 2-0 at half-time, there was no repeat of last season's grand final heroics for Brisbane, although Roar substitute Kofi Danning ensured a tense finale when his attempted cross was deflected in with eight minutes remaining.

The victory saw Central Coast extend its winning streak to a club record five matches and move three points clear at the top of the table.

A howler from Roar goalkeeper Michael Theoklitos sent Central Coast on its way when his misplaced pass was pounced upon by Mustafa Amini, who produced a delicate finish to chip the stranded goalkeeper and open the scoring in the sixth minute.

Roar coach Ange Postecoglou refused to criticise Theoklitos for his costly error.

"I tell Michael Theoklitos to pass it out from the back, I'm putting them in these situations," Postecoglou said.

"We'll keep playing it out from the back, we'll keep copping goals and people will want us to change and just do things differently - but we won't.

After dominating the first half, the Mariners scored again in stoppage time when Bojic ran on to a pass from striker Matt Simon before hitting a precise half-volley into the far corner.

Missing central defender Matt Smith through injury, Brisbane's tactic of playing a high defensive line was repeatedly exposed by Central Coast's intelligent movement and the Roar were guilty of wasting possession in an uncharacteristically poor first-half performance.

Also missing injured playmaker Thomas Broich the Roar looked bereft of ideas in attack, with striker Besart Berisha cautioned for diving in a disjointed first-half display.

Postecoglou admitted his team was struggling but said it was too early to consider making tactical changes.

"We've had 14 bad days and I've had head colds that have lasted longer than that," he said.

"It wouldn't be the first time people have questioned what I'm doing so we'll just get on with it.

"I'm hardly going to sit here and rip things apart that we've built for 18 months.

"I understand that people don't necessarily agree with my line of thinking but we're going down this path and we're not going to change."

Brisbane improved marginally after the break and substitute Danning dragged them back into the game when his attempted cross bounced off the back of Patrick Zwaanswijk to deceive Mariners goalkeeper Matt Ryan at his near post.

Issey Nakajima-Farran had already clipped the crossbar with a thunderous long-range strike before Danning's timely intervention.

But it was not enough to fire Brisbane to an equaliser despite a frenetic final 10 minutes, which saw the Roar force a string of corners in scenes reminiscent of last season's dramatic grand final.

"I think it was in the 89th minute they had a corner and I was marking Erik Paartalu so I was extra careful to make sure he didn't get on the end of it," Mariners goal scorer Bojic said.

"For a split second, the grand final went through my head but we defended so well as a unit in the second half."

Central Coast: 2 (M Amini 6', P Bojic 45')

Brisbane: 1 (K Danning 82')

Tags: sport, soccer, a-league, brisbane-4000, qld, gosford-2250, nsw, australia

First posted December 17, 2011 22:20:53

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Mariners resigned to losing young gun Amini

Posted June 29, 2011 15:53:00

Central Coast Mariners coach Graham Arnold has resigned himself to losing promising A-League midfielder Mustafa Amini to a European club.

It is not a matter of if, it is a matter of when, and Arnold hopes it comes about later rather than sooner.

"I'm not concerned with that because it is every player's dream to go overseas," he said.

"As a club we felt the original offer from (Bundesliga club) Dortmund of 100,000 euros ($137,000) was not enough for a player of his talent.

"It has probably opened up the field for other clubs to have a look at him, it just shows where the A-League sits when the coach of Celtic, Neil Lennon, knows about the players that we have.

"It shows the reputation of the Australian players."

Socceroos Mark Viduka and Scott MacDonald both plied their trade with Celtic.

"They've done excellent at Celtic and everyone knows the mentality of the Australian players over in Europe is good," Arnold said.

"My opinion is that he (Amini) could do with another year here mainly because he's got the under-20 World Cup in August but also the kid came from nowhere last year.

"He's still developing, physically, technically he's got it, tactically he's learning and for a kid who last year played in 23 games, didn't complete 90-minutes once, it has been a big step so far and he's got a long way to go."

The 18-year-old will play against Scottish Premier League giants Celtic on Saturday at the Olympic stadium in Sydney.

Celtic manager Neil Lennon is keen to see the Afro-haired creative midfielder play against his side.

"He's a player that's been flagged up to us," he said.

"I'll get a good look at him on Saturday hopefully."

- AAP

Tags: sport, football, aleague, australia, nsw, gosford-2250

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