Western United and Melbourne Victory played out a thrilling 0-0 draw at AAMI Park, with the home side having two goals ruled out to marginal offsides.
The game started off as a high-paced encounter with both teams looking to strike early.
The first opportunity fell to the visitors, as Jacob Butterfield forced Filip Kurto to make a save from long range.
Minutes later, Kurto was tested again following a Luis Lawrie-Lattanzio strike.
Victory continued to pile on the pressure and nearly got their reward inside the opening 10 minutes.
This time, Bandon Lauton’s shot inside the box rattled the post.
Tempers went up a notch when Ivan Vujica took out Storm Roux with a two-footed tackle and was perhaps lucky to only receive a yellow.
Close to half time, Western thought they hit the front after Besart Berisha converted from very close range. Following a VAR review, the goal was ruled out to an offside in the build-up.
The second half began with an instant Victory charge, as Lawrie-Lattanzio narrowly missed a close-range header after Adama Traore’s cross.
Five minutes later, Tomislav Uskok got away with a yellow card after a crunching tackle on Leigh Broxham.
As the half progressed, the home side wrestled back some ascendancy. The opening goal nearly came through Berisha, but his point-blank shot was blocked by Dylan Ryan.
Minutes later, Iker Guarrotxena had a strike from less than five meters out, but Max Crocombe came to the rescue.
Alessandro Diamanti hit the crossbar moments later from the edge of the box.
The crossbar was once again struck, as Diamanti was denied again from a similar range.
Fortune continued to favour Victory, as United once again thought they found the net. This time, it was Dylan Pierias who was denied a solo goal due to a marginal offside.
Birkan Kirdar nearly gave Victory the lead on the stroke of 90 minutes, but his shot was parried by Kurto.
This hard-fought draw allows Victory and Western to extend their unbeaten run to two games.
Melbourne Victory: 0
Western United: 0
Melbourne Victory: Max CROCOMBE (GK), Adama TRAORE, Ryan SHOTTON, Storm ROUX, Dylan RYAN, Leigh BROXHAM (Jay Barnett 78′), Jacob BUTTERFIELD, Jake BRIMMER, Marco ROJAS (Ben FOLAMI 61′), Brandon LAUTON (Elvis KAMSOBA 61′), Luis LAWRIE-LATTANZIO (Birkan KIRDAR 65′)
Subs: Matt ACTON (GK), Birkan KIRDAR, Jay BARNETT, Elvis KAMSOBA, Aaron ANDERSON, Zayden BELLO, Ben FOLAMI
Western United:Â Filip KURTO (GK), Tomoki IMAI, Aaron CALVER, Andrew DURANTE, Ivan VUJICA, Victor SANCHEZ, Tomislav USKOK (Lachlan Wales 82′), Alessandro DIAMANTI, Connor PAIN, Steven LUSTICA (Iker GUARROTXENA 55′), Besart BERISHA (Dylan PIERIAS 70′)
Subs:Â Ryan SCOTT (GK), Brendan HAMILL, Dylan PIERIAS, Lachlan WALES, Nicolas MILANOVIC, Jerry SKOTADIS, Iker GUARROTXENA
Referee:Â Adam Kersey
Assistant Referees:Â Wilson Brown, Daniel Illevski
Venue:Â AAMI Park
Feature Image Credit: Western United
Enjoy this content? Support The Football Sack
Due in part to COVID and lack of current sponsorship we are at risk of not having the funds to continue running The Football Sack. If you enjoy our content and support our work in training talented young writers, please support us with a donation. If every reader contributed just $3, our funding would be covered for over ten years.
| DONATE |
