Melbourne Victory registered their first win in the 2020-21 season of the A-League owing to two late goals from Jake Brimmer against his former club Perth Glory.
The hosts came into this game having lost their first two games of the season, against Brisbane Roar and Adelaide United respectively. In the meantime, manager Grant Brebner had only won one league game at the helm of the popular club, which came against these opponents in the form of a 4-0 result last season.
Richard Garcia’s men came into the game having scored nine goals in their first two matches in the league, losing to Western United in a 5-4 thriller at Kardinia Park in Geelong.
Victory began the game slowly in the absence of recent signings Rudy Gestede and Callum McManaman, but attacking midfielder Marco Rojas found the ball at the edge of the box in the 13th minute and danced his way past defender Darryl Lachman. But the Kiwi was unable to go all the way and won a corner for his side.
While nothing came from the set-play that ensued, the home side enjoyed a few minutes of possession and applied good pressure, with Garcia’s men being pinned down in their own half.
But that did not last long as returning attacker Andy Keogh did well to find Nicholas D’Agostino in space, but the latter let himself down with a poor first touch. That allowed the Victory defence to manage a clearance, albeit a sloppy one.
Brebner’s boys got a great opportunity to draw first blood a little before 20 minutes, when midfielder Jacob Butterfield sent in an excellent left-footed low ball into the centre of the box that found Brimmer. The 22-year-old moved to the right to avoid being closed down, and took a well hit shot at the near post. But goalkeeper Tando Velaphi was up to it and produced a good save to keep the score level.
A few minutes later, left-back Adama Traore sent in a long ball from the left flank that attacker Robbie Kruse did well to latch onto. The experienced Australia international cleverly back heeled it to youngster Brandon Lawton, who was unable to test the goalkeeper as his shot went wide of the target.
After a third of the game had been completed, Neil Kilkenny – who was wearing the armband in the absence of Diego Castro – did a one-two with Keogh and passed to forward Bruno Fornaroli who fired a shot that ‘keeper Max Crocombe did well to save.
A little after that effort, young Carlo Armiento went into the book for blocking the hosts’ skipper Leigh Broxham by using his elbow. While not a serious foul, the fact that the 21-year-old protested could have played a part in him being shown a yellow card.
Not long after being officially cautioned by the man in charge, a late challenge saw Armiento go down in midfield. While Perth continued with their attack, the youngster stayed down for a long time. The home fans saw this behaviour by the former Adelaide United player to be a touch too dramatic and gave him a lot of stick for the remainder of the half.
Nearly 35 minutes had passed when Traore sent a long and low ball from the left flank as Kruse – using exceptional positional awareness and staving off a defender in the process – let loose a sensational first touch shot that produced an equilavent save from Velaphi.
Armiento was at it again early on in the second-half, when he shook off two defenders just outside the box on the left and surprised Crocombe by taking a pop at the near post instead of crossing. But the shot-stopper managed to keep the ball out on that occasion.
Just over an hour had passed when Armiento crossed from the left of the box as Fornaroli rushed towards the far post and made it 1-0 by heading the ball into the back of the net. Questions could be asked why Butterfield lost his marker, or even why the midfielder was in that position when there should have been a centre-half in his place instead.
A little before 70 minutes, Elvis Kamsoba – who had come on for Lauton after the break – as the referee played advantage. Kruse went through on the right and shot from a tight angle across goal, but his shot went just wide of the target.
As the clock slowly ticked away, Perth appeared to be comfortable with their lead and looked to be closing out the game. But everything changed in the 86th minute when Victory scored an equaliser to make it 1-1. Traore whipped in a ball from the left as Brimmer headed the ball home to score his first A-League goal.
The hosts managed to take the lead – which would eventually be the winner – with very little time left on the clock, as they made it 2-1 in their favour. A corner-kick saw young defender Joshua Rawlins being penalised for a handball in the area. As the referee pointed to the spot in the 90th minute, Brimmer stepped up to the centre. The 22-year-old Melbournian sent the ‘keeper the wrong way and dispatched the ball into the left-bottom corner of the net, much to the joy of the vociferous supporters.
As the referee brought the game to a halt, Brebner was all smiles and looked relieved to register his second A-League win as manager and the first for the club this season.
Melbourne Victory will take on Western United in an ‘away’ game at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium on Saturday, while Perth Glory will lock horns with Melbourne City at the same venue on Sunday.
