It was the perfect start to round 17 in Australia’s A-League. Unstoppable, near unplayable Brisbane Roar travelling to the sleeping giants of Melbourne Victory. Whilst a top two spot for Victory was out of the question, they found themselves in a fight to take the final playoff spot – sixth.

In a league of 11 teams, sixth is enough to guarantee a finals berth and whilst making the Grand Final from outside the top two has only been achieved once, Victory, if anyone, have the arsenal to do so. Last year Sydney FC proved their nemesis, outmanoeuvring them when it mattered, but this season the problems seem to have come from within, with injuries and indifferent form seeing them vying with their new cross-city neighbours Melbourne Heart for the status of best of the mid-table Melbourne teams.

The Brisbane match was a chance to make it all right. Victory would see Ernie Merrick’s men sending out a statement of intent after two games drawn from winning positions and moreover would announce that they’re back in the reckoning. In the build-up Archie Thompson, just back from injury, thought he’d add his two cents saying “They haven’t actually won anything yet. We’ve won two championships and two minor premierships, so until they actually win something they can’t say they’re at a Melbourne Victory level.”

Thompson had the grace to concede that Ange Postecoglou’s side were at least playing the best football in the league and it’s true that their league position perhaps overstates their mastery of the division; after all, their impressive seven point lead over their rivals at the top of the table could be cut to just a point or two when games in hand were taken into account.

Melbourne Victory’s other forward, Robbie Kruse, seemed to agree with his strike partner, saying “In the back of their minds they’ll know that the last time they came down here we gave them a bit of a flogging.” Adding, "It’s all about when we get our chances to take them early and if we can get an early goal it’s going to help."

 

It didn’t work out like that at AAMI Park in Melbourne though. With the Australian continent still reeling in mild surprise following FIFA’s decision not to award them the 2022 World Cup, there were no raised eyebrows at all to see Brisbane go a goal up, even if the source, an own goal via Melbourne’s Matt Kemp, was not the most obvious of sources.

That most obvious, Jean Carlos Solorzano, had to wait another fifteen minutes to get his goal and send his team in at the break 2-0 up. Both goals had come from set pieces, but Solorzano’s was notable, taking the 22-year-old Costa Rican to top of the goal scoring charts.

Victory, however, were not to be put to the sword so easily, rallying in the second half through Kruse, then Thompson, before Kruse finally put them 3-2 ahead, joining Solorzano on top of the scorer’s chart in the process. Cue a grandstand finish and it was the champions-elect who showed their mettle, Brisbane’s captain Matt McKay scoring deep into injury time to make it 3-3.

As the final whistle blew, and Archie Thompson turned to the on-pitch cameras to discuss the game, it was the background that caught the eye as Melbourne’s firebrand captain, Kevin Muscat, got in to an argument with the Roar’s goalkeeping coach Fernando Vaz Alvez, pushing him and having to be restrained by his team-mates and led away, eventually, by Ange Postecoglou. The choice of target was no surprise for Muscat’s explosion. McKay’s last gasp goal had come directly from a controversial incident where Brisbane’s goalkeeper Michael Theoklitos appeared to handle the ball outside the box. Play was allowed to continue however, and the goal came direct from his clearance.

Former Socceroo keeper Mark Bosnich weighed in on Fox Sports saying it was nothing that hadn’t happened many times before. "The only difference is that it happens in the tunnel and we don’t see it. At the end of the day it’s just handbags – I have seen 100 times worse than that."

The Australian FA (the FFA) felt differently, revealing they would be reviewing the incident and responding accordingly, although the decision was then pushed back to allow Melbourne to submit some thoughts in Muscat’s defence. Quite what, however, would be an adequate defence for trying to start a fight on live TV remains to be seen and the incident has taken away from what was the highlight of the round.

Brisbane could be happier with the result, their coach saying "It was a result borne out of our spirit rather than our performance. We didn’t lose – that’s the most important thing." Melbourne Victory’s Ernie Merrick meanwhile bemoaned their poor luck. "I felt for the boys. We’ve had three games now where we’ve played very, very good football and we haven’t had a win. Their goal was in the last minute of the game – it’s pretty tough to take."

For Melbourne Victory it may be tougher to take still. If they do lose Muscat to suspension it will be another player missing they really don’t need. This result also saw them drop out of the top six; out of the playoffs. Defender Matthew Kemp said "It was probably one of the biggest disappointments of my whole career. It was huge, we felt as though we had lost the Grand Final.” More to the point, this result means they currently have no means to even get there.

The second ever Melbourne derby looms on the horizon, with Melbourne Heart visiting Melbourne Victory – with bragging rights most certainly on the line – this time from one place above in the last of the playoff spots. A second defeat by Melbourne Heart, possibly with Muscat watching helplessly from the sidelines and a four point gap opening up, could well define Melbourne Victory’s season of disappointments. They’ll be hoping that this time they start acting like the perennial title challengers they are.