Kevin Muscat's 68th minute penalty, and Archie Thompson's strike five minutes from time was enough to break a Docklands goal-drought for Melbourne Victory against Queensland Roar on Friday night and bring up the Champion's long-awaited first win of the new campaign.
Brazilian live-wire Leandro had been felled by Sasa Ognenovski as he prepared to shoot from ten yards when he'd followed up a shot from Thompson which crashed off the bar. Ognenovski was cautioned, not for his foul, but for unfairly distracting Muscat before the spot-kick, one of seven players whose names were recorded in a testy encounter. Many more could have seen yellow, some on more than one occasion.
Thompson's goal came after Leandro had lobbed Queensland captain Craig Moore and defender Josh McCloughan wide on the right, allowing the untracked Socceroo striker to slip the ball inside Liam Reddy's near post from an acute angle. Roar had just made a defensive substitution and had not reacted alertly enough to a Victory throw which was sent up the right to Leandro.
"We had to defend well," said Victory coach Ernie Merrick after the game. "It was a gutsy performance. After we scored, we created three or four (more opportunities)."
"We looked the business again."
Roar had opportunities to win the game. Moore will still be wondering how Roddy Vargas reached his goal-bound shot before Muscat's penalty. And second-half substitute Michael Zullo had two chances in as many seconds: the first when his header came back off the base of the upright from his header, the second when he was first to the rebound, but blasted wide of the far post.
"We were very stiff, I thought," said Roar coach Frank Farina in the post-match media conference. "We dominated most of the game, but when you see a score of two-nil, it doesn't count."
"I still believe we're a good side. We hit the post (and) had a shot saved off the line," he said.
Constant first-half pressure on the Victory goal had been comfortably dealt with by goalkeeper Michael Theoklitos who mastered his six-yard box and was unbeatable in the air. Even with that, Roar would be bemused by the scoreline as it did not reflect the balance of the game.
Melbourne had not scored at this venue since Kristian Sarkies' added-time goal in the 6-0 Championship whitewash of Adelaide United at the end of last season. And despite playing with three men up front, Victory scarcely looked likely to net again until half-an-hour in when a rare Queensland lapse of concentration at the back allowed Leandro to run onto a hopeful diagonal ball. Leandro's cross was into the same space Danny Allsopp was speeding to at the near post, having escaped the attentions of Ognenovski, but his shot went narrowly wide.
If there had been a paucity of goal-attempt action before, it came thick and fast in the five minutes before the interval.
Leandro had a decent chance after he'd run onto a clever ball played behind the defence by Leigh Broxham. Broxham had been allowed room to run up the middle from the half-way line, slipping between two half-hearted challenges by Simon Lynch and Marcinho as he went. The young midfielder gleefully took advantage of Roar's generosity before spreading the ball wide left to Leandro. Leandro's first touch was a trifle heavy allowing the pursuing Hyuk-Su Seo to impose himself, closing down the Brazilian before he could let loose his shot.
And in first-half added time came two more chances in quick succession. Firstly, a sharp ball was played to Thompson by Allsopp from deep inside his own half as Victory defended a Queensland corner. Thompson skipped clear of a lunging interception attempt from Danny Tiatto and into acres of open space in front of him. Thompson's run was up the inside-left channel, facing only Seo and with Leandro rapidly making up ground in a supporting position to his right. As Thompson passed the ball across field to Leandro, the chasing Tiatto launched into him from behind with a one-footed challenge, catching Thompson on the ankle and sending both players sprawling to the turf. Referee Ben Williams, re-assigned from his Sydney appointment to cover the unwell Mark Shield, allowed the advantage as Leandro had by now stretched the Roar defence. Leandro was able to step inside Matt McKay's attempt to close down the space, but his shot flew by the far post.
Williams then booked Tiatto for his challenge when a red-card might well have been shown by a less generous official. At half-time, Merrick left the field in conversation with the officials but declined to comment when asked if his subject matter was Tiatto and his tackle.
And just before the players left the park for the break, Marcinho's free-kick from 30 metres after he'd been fouled by Vargas needed a diving save from Theoklitos to tip the ball over the bar.
A half which had started quietly had ended in a flurry.
Tiatto's card didn't result in the feisty midfielder toning down his activities. Twice within minutes early in the second half he had been involved in less-than-savoury incidents. Firstly he was late into a challenge on Grant Brebner, and then had a set-to with Victory defender Daniel Piorkowski where the unpleasantness seemed ready to boil over.
Tiatto had run onto a ball played up the left. Piorkowski made no attempt to play it, his focus seemingly only to block Tiatto. As both players fell to the ground grappling with each other inside the Roar technical area, television cameras appeared to catch Tiatto landing a blow with his forearm on Piorkowsi's neck. This brought in players from both sides as well as some angry exchanges with the Queensland bench.
Neither Piorkowski nor Tiatto suffered any further penalty than a talking to by Williams, even though both may have deserved yellow cards. Piorkowski was cautioned some minutes later for his late challenge on Simon Lynch. Events were taking a turn in a direction when it seemed unlikely both sides would depart the arena with eleven players.
Farina believes Tiatto is being unfairly targetted. "Tonight wasn't physical," he said. "Some of the cards he's got have been absolutely soft. (And) the foul on Danny on the sideline right in front of me was a professional foul. The card he got last week was soft (too)."
"Danny is doing a good job for us. He's just a little misunderstood."
Vargas brought attentions back onto the football when he acrobatically cleared off his goal-line Moore's goal-bound shot on the hour. Moore had found unattended space inside the Victory penalty-area after a move up Roar's right had caught Victory out of position.
Reinaldo had made good ground up the right and Moore saw the opportunity to create some space by waving Lynch inside taking Piorkowski with him. Now with room, and no defender within cooee, Moore had time to bring down the ball, step inside Theoklitos, and thunder in a shot thigh-high to the far post. Somehow Vargas managed to get in a kung-fu like kick to clear the ball as Moore was ready to celebrate.
But then came some trickery from Thompson whose rifled shot beat Liam Reddy, but not the woodwork, and which concluded with Leandro being floored as he attempted to find shooting space after collecting the rebound. Brebner had been quick to spot the potential and had found Thompson on the right with a diagonal ball from the half-way line.
Muscat had been deadly as Victory's penalty-taker in both previous seasons, and once again found the net from the spot.
"That was the turning point," said Farina. "They got momentum then. We still created enough (scoring chances), but lost."
With less than fifteen minutes to go, Roar seemed certain to equalise. Massimo Murdocca had sped away after a smart move up the right commenced by Seo to Reinaldo, whose flick on sent Murdocca clear. His cross was perfectly set up for Zullo's head. Zullo outjumped Broxham - admittedly not an onerous task given Broxham's compact stature - and beat Theoklitos only to see the ball come off the base of the near post. Zullo however wasn't finished and was first to the rebound, this time sending his shot wide of the far post as the goal gaped.
But then came Thompson's goal which gave Victory the breathing space it had sought and allowed the healthy home attendance to see its first three point game.
Roar's bad luck got worse as the final whistle neared. Ante Milicic, who came off the bench midway through the second half, failed to finish the match. "He's done his groin, so he'll be out for a while," said Farina.
As the game ended, Victory players went to Theoklitos who played despite the death of his mother the day before. Players of both teams wore black armbands in a mark of respect, and Merrick said it had been Theoklitos' express wish to play.
"We wanted to get the three points to show our gratitude to (Theoklitos) to show him our gratitude for turning up," said Muscat.