A ruthless Melbourne Victory has won through to its first
A-League grand final in five years with a 3-0 triumph over cross-town rivals
Melbourne City.
Besart Berisha and Kosta Barbarouses fired the A-League
premiers into a comfortable lead within half an hour of the semi-final with
classy goals.
In reply, City fashioned plenty of chances but none that
could beat an in-form Lawrence Thomas in Victory's goal.
Instead, Archie Thompson found a late third to confirm
Victory will host the A-League grand final next Sunday.
City can rue their bad luck, with David Williams, Aaron Mooy
and Harry Novillo forced off before the hour mark through injury, cruelling their
chances of a comeback.
Playing in front of a Victory-dominated crowd of 50,871 at
Etihad Stadium, Kevin Muscat's side took their chances in emphatic fashion,
cementing their position as Melbourne's number one side.
Sydney FC or Adelaide United await the premiers following
Saturday's second semi-final.
Whether it was the short break, the step up in class, or
just the moment, Melbourne City were found lacking on the biggest stage of
their young history.
Berisha's opening goal, his fifth against City at Etihad
Stadium this season, came on 19 minutes.
Leigh Broxham's overlapping run was honoured by Barbarouses,
with the right-back finding the unmarked Berisha inches from goal.
Without a City defender in sight, the Albanian glanced a
header past former Victory gloveman Tando Velaphi.
John van 't Schip's side were fashioning more chances than
Victory, but were undone on the half-hour mark when Barbarouses added a second
goal.
And what a goal it was.
From Fahid Ben Khalfallah's cross, Barbarouses, stepped
back, balanced and unleashed a technically perfect volley to live long in the
memory, striking a waist-high ball sweetly from the penalty spot into the
corner of the net.
This was Victory's night, confirmed as much within minutes
of the restart.
With Williams already off, Mooy and Novillo joined them in
the change rooms after the Frenchman fluffed a shot at the back post.
Still City pushed, Kennedy heading wide and Patrick Kisnorbo
firing wide when alone in the box.
City's captain took a turn up front as they looked to find
something but it was Victory that made the play via a club legend.
With Berisha heading a Gui Finkler corner against the
upright, substitute Thompson latched onto a loose ball to tap home, securing
their place in the decider.
Muscat, who saw his team cast aside their recent history of
semi-final eliminations, said his team's progression came through hard work.
"We started the game with great intent and the
application was superb," he said.
"We scored two outstanding goals and it's fitting that
we've made the final for the season we've had."
Van 't Schip said City had enough chances to win the game
but they couldn't contend with the injuries.
"The effort of the boys, you couldn't say anything about
that," he said.
"Going behind 2-0 didn't make it too easy.
"Getting three injured players ... that was difficult
to replace."
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