Melbourne and Sydney played out what ultimately proved to be an entertaining but scoreless draw at Docklands Stadium on Saturday. After a quiet first period, the second half was an end-to-end affair and one where the woodwork came to the rescue of both goalkeepers.
The result was more likely to please the home side, as its defence is depleted through suspension, international commitments, and injury. This was one of those weeks where the resource shortage had to be weathered, even at the cost of conservative football. Indeed, Melbourne's player deficiencies are not eased next week. Captain Kevin Muscat will be unable to participate after picking up a caution with just three minutes remaining.
"We've discovered there's a jinx on our centre-backs," said Victory coach Ernie Merrick in the after-match media-conference. "I think (assistant coach) Aaron Healy's going to make a come-back (next week)," he joked, also inviting the attending journalists to give him a call during the week if they know of anyone available.
"I'm pleased with the point, (although) I wanted three. We played good football. I thought we controlled the midfield really well. Our defence was outstanding."
"In the second half we stepped up a gear. And just at the end I thought that we'd caught them out a couple of times and that we were going to get the winner," he said.
Sydney coach John Kosmina, still under the touch-line ban imposed as a result of last season's indiscretions at Adelaide United, watched the game from on high. "It could have gone either way," he said. "I thought we had the better of the first half (but) when Melbourne upped the pace, we didn't stay with them."
"It was a good point for us."
Coming into the game Melbourne's defence was likely to be under severe pressure as its usual back four was absent. In its re-drawn form, it went to a back three with Muscat at its heart. Muscat is a hard task-master and was especially displeased at Leandro's profligacy when in possession. Too often in the first half, at least for Muscat's liking, Leandro gave away possession when more promising outcomes were in prospect.
The Docklands' playing surface is now up to the standard where football can be played, sloughing off the damage caused by the painting and patchwork repairs it needs as a consequence of the arena's winter tenants. It's disappointing that it takes until midway through the A-League season for this standard to be attained, and Muscat wanted Leandro to put it to better use.
Both sets of defences held the upper hand during a tight first half. Sydney's vastly experienced central combination of Mark Rudan and Tony Popovic adequately dealt with what Archie Thompson and Danny Allsopp could create, and Muscat's marshalling of Matthew Kemp and Steven Pace at the other end kept Michael Bridges and Alex Brosque quiet. David Zdrilic had come off the bench midway through the first half to replace an injured Steve Corica and took over Brosque's role as a front-line striker.
The only dangerous moment was crafted by Bridges and arose shortly after Corica's substitution but the Englishman's far-post shot was stopped by Michael Theoklitos making a one-handed save, then gathering before Bridges could follow-up.
Victory's best first-half chance came from Pace who had gone forward for a Kemp corner, but Clint Bolton got a hand to it and steered his header over the bar.
Brosque's withdrawal from the front to a deeper position upon Zdrilic's introduction didn't alter the Victory defence which stuck to its game-plan. Only when Bridges was withdrawn midway through the second half for Juninho did Brosque return to the position. He made an immediate impact upon returning, driving a shot past Theoklitos but onto the post, then shooting wide from the rebound.
A minute or so later he again troubled Theoklitos who needed to concede the corner. Brosque hit the bar as the corner was unconvincingly dealt with by the Victory defence.
Brosque was significantly more effective as a dedicated striker and directly running at goal, rather than when taking on the 360 degree footballing responsibilities of midfield.
"Brosque's not an out-and-out midfielder," Kosmina said. "He is better up front where he's got a bit more room to run. But I thought he did alright in the middle (because) he worked."
Juninho's participation was off the bench, caused in part by Kosmina's assessment of the Brazilian's best use on tactical as well as pragmatic grounds.
"I thought (Juninho) might have been better coming off the bench with fresh legs, and I think that was the way it turned out," he said. "He (also) copped that nasty knock on his shoulder last week (and) I expected one or two blokes in the Melbourne side to give him another one in the first five minutes, and I wasn't going to risk that."
Merrick too had changed his structure with Carlos Hernandez playing the first half very deeply compared to his more usual position directly behind the front pair. He and the game sprang to life ten minutes after the break when his free-kick from 30 yards needed Clint Bolton's touch to keep it out, and then barely a minute later sent in a through-ball to Thompson which needed an alert reaction from Bolton, swiftly out to smother.
Before most of the home support had regained their seats, Muscat hit the post from the edge of the penalty-area as he came on to a part-cleared Kemp corner.
The contrast between the cautious approach taken in the first period and what was now on display was stark. The introduction of Adrian Caceres for Leandro on the hour ramped up the pressure even more. The volume from another healthy Melbourne attendance was raised in tandem.
Ruben Zadkovich however decided Sydney should also have a presence and went on an unchallenged 30 metre run into the heart of the Victory back-line. Perhaps it was being so left alone during the run which disconcerted him to the extent he extravagantly mis-placed his pass and the chance petered out.
Thompson had a golden opportunity in added time after exchanging passes with Caceres up the left but the Socceroo striker's shot across goal flashed just wide of the far post.
"Archie could have won the game for us. He missed the post by just a few centimetres," said Merrick.