Melbourne Victory's slim Finals hopes continued, at least for another 23 hours, after its comfortable three-nil home win against Wellington Phoenix on Friday evening in front of another healthy Melbourne attendance.
Carlos Hernandez, standing in as striker in place of Danny Allsopp, got Victory's opener - and his side's century of A-League goals - on the half-hour. Nick Ward netted the first of Victory's second century four minutes later. Kaz Patafta brought up the third and final goal of the game two minutes from time.
"It was a great night for Melbourne Victory", - said Victory coach Ernie Merrick after the game. "Everything worked".
"Ten goals in the last three games - doesn't that put the pressure on" he asked rhetorically.
"We were a bit flat (at the start)", said Phoenix coach Ricky Herbert. "(But) we made more of a game of it in the second half".
The win - Victory's third in a row after a disappointing beginning to its title defence - was enough to keep Melbourne's season alive at least until Newcastle Jets play at Central Coast on Saturday. Unless Jets gain all three points, the last place up for grabs in the Finals won't be determined until next week's ultimate round.
Victory had created, but squandered, three good opportunities within the first fifteen minutes. Archie Thompson, Ward, and Adrian Caceres had all been set free to run directly at goal but in each case their shots were off-target.
But it was Hernandez shortly afterwards who'll wonder why his effort did not bulge the net. The Costa Rican had comprehensively beaten the Phoenix offside trap, racing onto a pass from Caceres. Hernandez turned Steven O'Dor inside out before blasting a shot from close-range which beat Glen Moss but crashed off the underside of the bar and onto the goal-line before being cleared by Kristian Rees.
Minutes later Hernandez bent in a shot from wide on the left which only just cleared the bar, evading Moss's desperate leap. And then Caceres had another good chance but shot overly wide.
Phoenix was reeling. What sporadic forward possession Wellington had managed was comfortably dealt with by the central defensive pairing of Andy Vargas and Kevin Muscat.
And with a rapprochement between Victory and its loudest supporters' groups in evidence, events on and off the park were bringing back memories of last year's exhilarating performances at Docklands.
On the half-hour, the pressure told. Caceres had made another good run down the left before squaring to Thompson. Thompson?s shot was blocked by O?Dor at the edge of the penalty-area, rebounding to Ward. Ward passed wide right to Hernandez who, in turn, clinically crashed a shot low to the far post for Victory's opener.
Caceres had set the first one up after a run up the left. He created the second after a run up the right. Vargas played in a pin-point diagonal ball from a deep in his own half, tempting O'Dor into a challenge, easily brushed off by Caceres, and leaving O'Dor sprawled on the ground. Now inside the penalty-area, but wide, he awaited more central support, mesmerising Moss who stood frozen on the spot. At the last second and just as Moss finally made a move, Caceres played the ball to the penalty-spot from where Ward side-footed home off the near post.
"It's been a while since the last goal I scored", said Ward. "It's a really good feeling".
Phoenix's first moment of danger took until the hour to arrive. Michael Ferrante, a Victory player in its inaugural season, received a ball from Ahmad Elrich's part-cleared corner some 20 metres out. His shot went only centimetres wide of the post with Michael Theoklitos unsighted.
It was Elrich's last action of the game as he was withdrawn by Herbert for Daniel. By then, Herbert could have replaced most of his players had he been able such was the way most had been outclassed. Wellington had scarcely been a presence in the first half, as Herbert later acknowledged, and the shot-count had been 12-0 in Victory's favour. The second was rapidly going the same way. Vaughan Coveny also made way for Greg Draper shortly after as Herbert sought to create something which would bring life to his team.
Shane Smetlz should have done better midway through the half after a run up the left finished in a shot which Theoklitos made look more difficult than it was, taking two attempts before he safely held it.
Phoenix should have found itself back in the contest with two sharp chances inside thirty seconds with ten minutes remaining. O'Dor - perhaps grateful to be involved at the front such was the torrid time he was experiencing at the back - headed a close-range corner from Daniel onto the bar. Ferrante, following-up, saw his swerving shot scrape the outside of the goal-frame's top corner.
At the other end, the Phoenix defence was twice caught square by Victory as the game drew to a close. In the first, Hernandez burst through on the right to give Victory a four-on-one advantage. Hernandez had Thompson in support more centrally and squared, only for Thompson to put wide with the goal gaping.
But a minute later he same beginning had a more productive end. This time it was Thompson who burst through on a pass from Patafta who had come on for Caceres with fifteen minutes to go. O'Dor chased and closed him down as Thompson prepared to shoot, only for the ball to spill wide to Patafta. The youngster was wide and needed to shoot truly from an acute angle to bring up his debut goal in the A-League and Victory's third of the match.
There was still time for another Ferrante shot almost directly from the re-start. Again, to Ferrante's obvious displeasure, it flew just over the bar to conclude Wellington's barren night.