From the Age. (Wahey!)
It's sweet Victory after drama Michael Lynch March 1, 2009
MELBOURNE Victory became the first A-League club to win the championship twice when it edged out a defiant Adelaide United 1-0 thanks to a second-half Tommy Pondeljak goal in a bruising clash in front of more than 53,000 fans at Telstra Dome last night.Both teams finished the game with 10 men, but the Reds had to play for 80 minutes a man down after Cristiano was given his marching orders in the 10th minute after clashing with Rody Vargas.
Victory striker Daniel Allsopp followed suit in the 65th minute after he clashed with Adelaide defender Robert Cornthwaite in a penalty-area melee, but by then Melbourne was a goal to the good and had had the advantage of playing with an extra man for 55 minutes.
Anyone who thought this was going to be a pushover —as the bookmakers' markets suggested — was sadly mistaken. Adelaide had been humiliated, as a team and a club here a fortnight ago when it lost 4-0 in the second leg of the major semi-final, and it was determined to ensure that there would be no such repeat.
That was a defeat that sparked a huge internal review after coach Aurelio Vidmar's attack on every aspect of the club, and the soul searching paid dividends last week when the Reds were able to get over Queensland Roar in the preliminary final.
Last night the Reds played with a grit, commitment and passion that had been lacking a fortnight earlier and matched the Victory in many facets of the game. With an ounce of luck they might have taken this match into extra-time, but as has been the case all season when they faced Melbourne, Victory was able to see off their challenge and take the spoils.
This was not a vintage performance by the Victory, but it was enough to etch its name in the record books. The Victory had goalkeeper Michael Theoklitos to thank on more than one occasion and there were no heroics from Archie Thompson or Carlos Hernandez, the pair expected to set this game ablaze. For Adelaide, goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic produced a number of fine saves, and although the South Australians were defeated they regained much of the pride that they had lost here two weeks ago.
The game turned on a harsh decision taken by referee Matthew Breeze in the 10th minute when he sent off Cristiano.
The Brazilian leapt in an aerial tussle with Victory centre-back Rody Vargas and Breeze, after consultation with assistant referee Matthew Cream, ruled that he had hit Vargas in the head with an elbow and produced a straight red card as Vargas lay on the ground clutching his blood-streaked face.
The wound looked ugly, but television replays showed Vargas also had his arms out as he leapt in the challenge.
As a result the entire dynamic of the A-League's showpiece game changed.
Aurelio Vidmar, the Adelaide coach, had joked earlier in the week about not just "parking the bus" in front of the Reds' goal, but sticking a train and a taxi there too. Vidmar had to refine what had, before the Cristiano send-off, been a surprisingly enterprising approach to this game.
Hernandez had been brilliant in the major semi-final when he scored one and set up three Melbourne goals, but he was nowhere near as influential last night as he got nothing like the time and space to play in that he was afforded on that occasion.
His 15th-minute effort, when he forced Galekovic to block near the post, was the closest he came in the opening stanza.
The Reds were rocked for a 15-minute period when Billy Celeski and Matthew Kemp shot wide and then Allsopp, who fastened on to a long clearance went close.
Allsopp was then set up by Muscat but was denied by a tremendous Galekovic reflex save.
Thompson, who terrorised Adelaide in the grand final two years ago when he scored five goals, was much more subdued last night and was getting little change out of Daniel Mullen.
Any suggestion that Melbourne would swamp a tiring Adelaide in the second period was short-lived as the Reds took the game to the favourite in a dynamic opening spell. Mullen's run down the right and cross found Scott Jamieson, whose side-foot effort was only kept out by a smart reflex save by Theoklitos.
But Melbourne finally capitalised on its numerical advantage in the 60th minute when Pondeljak, set up by a smart reverse pass from Celeski, fired home a powerful curling shot from outside the box that gave Galekovic no chance.
A-LEAGUE GRAND FINAL
MELBOURNE 1 ADELAIDE UNITED 0Pondeljak (60)
SCORER:
LINE-UPS — MELBOURNE: Michael Theoklitos, Matthew Kemp, Kevin Muscat (c), Rodrigo Vargas, Sebastian Ryall, Carlos Hernandez, Billy Celeski, Nick Ward (Evan Berger 56', Jose Luis Lopez 89'), Tom Pondeljak (Grant Brebner 83'), Archie Thompson, Danny Allsopp (red card 65'). Subs not used: Mitchell Langerak (gk), Ney Fabiano.
ADELAIDE UNITED: Eugene Galekovic, Scott Jamieson (Cassio 73'), Robert Cornthwaite, Sasa Ognenovski, Daniel Mullen, Jonas Salley, Fabian Barbiero, Paul Reid, Lucas Pantelis (Paul Agostino 63'), Travis Dodd (c), Cristiano (red card 10'). Subs not used: Mark Birghitti (gk), Rostyn Griffiths, Michael Marrone.
YELLOW CARDS — ADELAIDE UNITED: Ognenovski (37), Jamieson (56), Barbiero (64), Cornthwaite (81), Dodd (90).
REFEREE: Matthew Breeze.
CROWD: 53,273 at Telstra Dome.
Victory's tough road to title Michael Lynch March 1, 2009
MELBOURNE Victory's dual championship-winning coach Ernie Merrick last night declared he never had any doubt that his team could break down a gallant Adelaide United, who defended desperately for much of the game after its striker Cristiano was sent off in the 10th minute for elbowing Melbourne defender Roddy Vargas.Tom Pondeljak's stunning 60th-minute strike proved the difference between the two sides, but this grand final was far from the walk in the park that most fans were expecting it to be. It was also nothing like the humiliation two years ago, when Victory struck six past a 10-man Adelaide as the visitors disintegrated in the face of an Archie Thompson onslaught. Melbourne also finished last night's match a man short after its forward, Danny Allsopp, was ordered off for headbutting Robert Cornthwaite in the 65th minute.
"I always felt confident with this team, that they could cope with just about anything, and they did," Merrick said. "You're never going to win by a large margin, especially in a final, every time you play."
Adelaide coach Aurelio Vidmar, whose stunning outburst a fortnight ago helped turn round a season that looked to be crumbling just at its climactic point, could only rue the decision to send off Cristiano so early and praised his players for their fantastic commitment and the "unbelievable belief" they showed in themselves as they faced such daunting odds.
They might not have gained the revenge they wanted after being humbled at the Telstra Dome a fortnight ago, but they had regained their pride and that of the club, the city and the state, he said.
"I am really gutted for the players. We deserved something more than pride. I certainly thought we had the upper hand, but when you go down to 10 men it changes your game plan and it made it very difficult for the players tonight, but I couldn't be any prouder of the players.
"It was a fantastic effort and they really wore their hearts on their sleeves.
"I am proud, they did the state proud, themselves proud … there was a lot of passion and pride tonight but sometimes it doesn't go your way. You can't fault anyone tonight. It was a magnificent effort and we certainly deserved a lot more."
Victory skipper Kevin Muscat held the championship trophy aloft a second time, and said that Victory's success was driven by its relentless approach to the game.
"I don't think that we're miles better than anyone in the competition, but what we have got is a determined group and a very mentally strong group, and then after that we've got a lot of talent."
Vidmar questioned the sending off, and suggested it might be time for technology to be introduced to determine such decision. "I am a traditionalist, but something so significant that has a massive impact, probably you should (introduce technology)."
Merrick said the title was the culmination of a fantastic season.
"From the pre-season cup, the premier's plate and now this one it's just been a great year for Melbourne Victory Football Club, for these players (and) our fantastic supporters. To get 53,000 here and the game's gone out to 85 million households worldwide, it's just great for Australian football.
"They pushed us all the way in the league championship. They pushed us all the way tonight. They were tough competitors, but the bottom line is we've had a great year and we've thoroughly enjoyed it, but certainly it was a tough game tonight.
"It was one of those games that probably wasn't pretty. It was an edgy sort of game. It was a tough game. We probably could have gone ahead early if Eugene Galekovic hadn't pulled off a couple of terrific saves.
"When they went down to 10 men they were very hard to break down. The bus was firmly there in front of the 18-yard box, and they were breaking well, but our boys hung in there — Tommy (Pondeljak) scored a fantastic goal — and we gutsed it out right until the end. I guess that's a sign of a championship team.
"They made the game very tough in our attacking third, where they defended in numbers … so it was like threading a needle. I have to say I never had doubts about tonight at any stage. I had my most relaxed day and I'm going to stay longer than 20 minutes at the after-party tonight."
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