Melbourne Victory continues its push for second spot with a blockbuster trip to rival Adelaide United on Good Friday.
Summary
With two regular season games remaining in the Hyundai A-League, Victory is two points behind second-placed Sydney FC.
Victory recorded a 2-1 win over the Central Coast Mariners last time out and is guaranteed to finish no lower than third.
Ola Toivonen scored his 12th Hyundai A-League goal of the season and Georg Niedermeier his first for the club in the win.
Toivonen and strike partner Kosta Barbarouses (14) have scored 26 of Victory’s 49 league goals this campaign.
Meanwhile, James Troisi is the equal highest provider in the Hyundai A-League this season, assisting eight goals.
Lawrence Thomas, who has been sidelined with a knee injury, would become the first goalkeeper to play 100 Hyundai A-League games for Victory if he features against the Reds.
Raul Baena made his return from injury against the Mariners, while Terry Antonis (knee) was a late omission and Elvis Kamsoba came off with hamstring tightness after an impressive display.
Adelaide is aiming for fourth spot and a home final and enters the clash on a three-match unbeaten run.
Player in focus
What they said
“We always get a really good turnout and I think the last match against them when we beat them at home was probably the best atmosphere we’ve had all season outside the cup final. Always playing against Victory is a good game.” – Adelaide attacker Ben Halloran.
“It’s definitely crunch time now so an important three points against Central Coast and we want to take that into the game on Friday night, which is always that little derby, that rivalry, against Adelaide, definitely going to be a hard game, but one we need to get three points from, obviously play some good football but most importantly get the three points.” – Victory star Troisi.
Last time
Hyundai A-League 2018/19 Round 12
Adelaide United 2-0 Melbourne Victory
Wednesday, January 9, 2019
Coopers Stadium, Adelaide
Victory was punished twice early on its last trip to Adelaide in January.
Craig Goodwin and Ken Ilso scored in the opening 21 minutes in the Reds’ win.
As it stands
Head to head
Round 12, 2018/19: Adelaide 2-0 Victory at Coopers Stadium
Round 7, 2018/19: Victory 2-0 Adelaide at Marvel Stadium
Elimination Final, 2017/18: Victory 2-1 Adelaide at AAMI Park
Round 21, 2017/18: Victory 3-0 Adelaide at AAMI Park
Round 10, 2017/18: Victory 1-2 Adelaide at Marvel Stadium
Match details
Adelaide United v Melbourne Victory
Coopers Stadium, Adelaide
Friday, April 19, 2019
Kick-off: 7.50pm AEST
Melbourne Victory squad: 1.Matthew ACTON (gk), 2.Storm ROUX, 3.Corey BROWN, 4.Keisuke HONDA, 5.Georg NIEDERMEIER, 6.Leigh BROXHAM, 7.Kenny ATHIU, 8.Terry ANTONIS, 9.Kosta BARBAROUSES, 10.James TROISI, 11.Ola TOIVONEN, 14.Thomas DENG, 15.Raul BAENA, 16.Joshua HOPE, 17.James DONACHIE, 20.Lawrence THOMAS (gk), 21.Carl VALERI, 24. Elvis KAMSOBA
**two to be omitted**
Ins: 8.Terry ANTONIS (promoted), 20.Lawrence THOMAS (promoted)
Outs: 25.Anthony LESIOTIS, 30.Matthew SUTTON
Unavailable: nil
