Melbourne Victory head coach Kevin Muscat was happy for Besart Berisha after the forward’s hat-trick against the Central Coast Mariners.
Berisha’s treble and goals from Leroy George and Christian Theoharous saw Victory past the Mariners 5-2 at AAMI Park on Sunday as it moved into third in the Hyundai A-League.
At a post-match news conference, Muscat spoke about Berisha’s performance, his side’s win and the unusual incident that saw Kosta Barbarouses fix the net.
on Berisha…
“That’s professional sport. Everybody’s got an opinion. If Bes’ biggest sin is his desire and will to win, well, I’ll take that any day. Last week’s events are well behind us and he responded and reacted today in very good fashion and he took his goals, he was hungry for goals and he was very clinical in his approach so I’m very happy for him, very pleased for him.”
on Barbarouses fixing the net…
“There have been quite a few firsts at the football club this season, but that, I’ve never seen, a player having to repair the net. As Kosta said, he just keeps adding things to his game and fair play to him for thinking on his feet, or off his feet.”
on the win
“In assessing the week and planning for the week, there were a number of things we identified. The playing group – there was a contribution from everyone who came on tonight – young Chrissy gets his first goal in senior football, Bes gets his hat-trick, I thought Rhys (Williams) and Donks (James Donachie) and the back four defended really well for the main. Take into consideration the workload and everything that’s come with the travel and everything, we showed an outstanding attitude, desire and performance. We had a reason as well. We wanted to keep putting pressure on and finish as high as we can on the table and for those reasons we go away tonight very pleased.”
