Melbourne City Marc Sudholz (@marc014)
GK: Tando Velaphi – 6.5
Didn’t have much to do in the game, but was strong when called into action. Save from Fahid Ben Khalfallah’s free kick in the first half was important.
LB: Ben Garuccio – 6.5
A solid game from the young left back, who was able to control the Victory’s attacks down the right hand side for most of the night, also adding plenty going forward.
CB: Paddy Kisnorbo – 6.5
A decent shift at centre-back, however let himself down with some needless fouls and would perhaps benefit by curbing his enthusiasm.
CB: Connor Chapman – 8
Two clean sheets in two starts for the young man. Made solid decisions all night, keeping Berisha frustrated. Kept a cool head in a big game.
RB:Jason Hoffman – 5.5
Was unable to control Ben Khalfallah for most of the game. Was booked early, which limited his ability to make tackles.
DM: Erik Paartaalu (1 goal) – 7.5
A commanding game in central midfield, acting as the screen for the back four, a key player in keeping a clean sheet. Scored the winning goal in injury time in the second half.
✮ CM: Aaron Mooy – 8 ✮
Pulled the strings all night, keeping the game moving with a great mix of long and short passing, in a game which often was stop start
CM: Jacob Melling – 7
Was a force in midfield, peppering the victory goal with long shots without truly challenging Coe. Linked midfield with attack well with some good forward passes and was clearly up for Saturday’s game, perhaps too much with that elbow, which was a big talking point.
LW: Iain Ramsay – 5
Was unable to find time and space on the ball throughout the game, and when he did, often chose the wrong option.
ST: David Williams – 6
Often was the only target in attack, and never stopped running. Was unable to fashion a really good chance, but nonetheless had a decent game
RW: Mate Dugandzic (1 assist) – 7.5
A good game from the ex victory winger, often causing the back four issues with his pace and dribbling. Put in the cross for Paartalu’s decisive header.
Sub: Robi Koren (on 61′) – 4.5
Will be better for the minutes on the park but didn’t stamp his authority on the match. Was kept without a touch for the better part of 15 minutes on his debut.
Sub: James Brown (on 70′) – N/A
Sub: Stefan Mauk (on 80′) – N/A
***
Melbourne Victory Damir Kulas (@DamirKulas)
GK: Nathan Coe – 6.5
A mixed night for the Victory shot-stopper who would have been extremely disappointed to have conceded so late on. Made two excellent saves late including a stunning one from Mooy’s fierce shot, which he parried onto the crossbar. His distribution was poor though, when put under pressure.
LB: Dylan Murnane – 6
A matured performance for the stand-in left-back who handled the threat of Mate Dugandzic quite well throughout the ninety. Though at times he was found himself outnumbered in defence with Hoffman and Dugandzic going two on one against him. But overall a credible display that should boost his confidence.
CB: Adrian Leijer – 6
The former skipper managed to keep the City front third quiet for most of the night, doing well to minimise the threat posed by David Williams. His assured display against the front three was a contrast to his aerial effort in dealing with corners and set pieces from the hosts, with the tall defender struggling to deal with City’s tall timber as was evident in the goal. Distribution also lacked.
CB: Nick Ansell – 7
The highly rated youngster returned to the starting line-up and rarely put a foot wrong in an excellent display. He put his body on the line on several occasions as was most evident when he heroically blocked a goal bound shot from Robbie Koren late on but would ultimately be left without much reward for his effort at the end of the game.
RB: Jason Geria – 6.5
A solid defensive outing from the youngster who missed the season’s first derby through injury. Managed the threat of Ramsay well with his direct opponent struggling to have a major impact on the game. However his play going forward was not as efficient with several loose passes suggesting plenty of room for improvement.
CM: Leigh Broxham – 6.5
Moved back to his natural centre midfield position in replace of the suspended Milligan and the stand-in captain put in a combatable display. His energy and readiness to stamp out incoming City attacks was noticeable as he constantly had to prevent the likes of Mooy and Melling from moving further out forward. Came close to scoring but his effort went straight at Velaphi who pushed the ball into the path of an oncoming Berisha.
CM: Carl Valeri – 6
Not his best game but the Socceroo certainly was not disgraced either in his role at the heart of Victory’s midfield. His passing was mostly good throughout his time on the park however it could be said that he failed to stamp his authority in the midfield battle with the likes Paartalu and Mooy coming out on top when analysing the performance as a whole. Replaced by Mahazi after 70 minutes.
LW: Fahid Ben Khalfallah – 7
Another enthusiastic performance from the Tunisian who was at the heart of some of Victory’s best attacking moves. Had a legitimate goal controversially ruled out for offside before fading away a bit in the second half, maybe as a result of picking up a booking in the aftermath of the Melling incident. Replaced by Connor Pain late on.
RW: Kosta Barbarouses – 5
Has looked dangerous in the past few weeks with several telling contributions however a similar impact this time around was missing from his game. His threat was nullified well by City and Ben Garuccio, who overwhelmingly won the battle between the two. It was only when Finkler came on that he became more involved without ever really having any profound impact on the game with his crosses disappointing to say the least.
AM: Archie Thompson – 5.5
After the high of scoring a hat-trick last week against Sydney, the veteran forward had a lacklustre outing this time round and struggled to get himself into the game as much as he would have liked. He often found himself out-muscled by a considerably aggressive City defence before being replaced by Gui Finkler after the hour mark in what was overall a frustrating derby showing for Thompson.
ST: Besart Berisha – 6
Again the Albanian worked hard by dropping back several times to win the ball back but would generally be disappointed not have terrorised City again. He had a good opportunity to open the scoring on the stroke of half-time however his shot was well saved by Velaphi in City’s goals. Both Kisnorbo and Chapman marked him tightly however the service provided to him was not the best.
Sub: Gui Finkler (on 61) – 6
Returned from injury and offered the side plenty of more threat in the attacking third once on, bringing Barbarouses into the game more with some great balls down the side. He would however have wanted to test out Velaphi more when given an opportunity from the set piece which went safely into the arms of City’s custodian.
Sub: Rashid Mahazi (on 70) N/A
Sub: Connor Pain (on 82) N/A
***
Votes:
3. Aaron Mooy
2. Connor Chapman
1. Erik Paartalu
TCF Melbourne Medal Running Tally:
53.5 – Aaron Mooy (Melbourne City)
37.5 – Fahid Ben Khalfallah (Melbourne Victory)
32.5 – Besart Berisha (Melbourne Victory)
30.5 – Damien Duff (Melbourne City)
30.5 – Kosta Barbarouses (Melbourne Victory)
24.5 – Leigh Broxham (Melbourne Victory)
21 – Jacob Melling (Melbourne City)
21 – Erik Paartalu (Melbourne City)
18 – Archie Thompson (Melbourne Victory)
16 – Connor Chapman (Melbourne City)
16 – Mark Milligan (Melbourne Victory)
15.5 – Daniel Georgievski (Melbourne Victory)
15.5 – Adrian Leijer (Melbourne Victory)
15.5 – Dylan Murnane (Melbourne Victory)
15 – David Villa (Melbourne City)
15 – Nathan Coe (Melbourne Victory)
14.5 – Mate Dugandzic (Melbourne City)
14.5 – Paddy Kisnorbo (Melbourne City)
8.5 – Gui Finkler (Melbourne Victory)
8 – Matthieu Delpierre (Melbourne Victory)
8 – Andrew Redmayne (Melbourne City)
6 – David Williams (Melbourne City)