Melbourne Victory has won through to the Westfield FFA Cup 2016 Semi Finals after beating Bentleigh Greens 2-0 on Wednesday night.
Goals from Marco Rojas and James Troisi ensured Victory’s Cup defence remained on track at Kingston Heath Soccer Complex.
Victory’s goals came in a five-minute burst in the second half, ending any hopes of a potential upset.
Rojas has now scored in all three appearances for Victory since his return to the club, with his previous two goals coming in pre-season trial games.
Victory head coach Kevin Muscat had a full squad to choose from against the 2016 PlayStation 4 NPL Victoria premiers, with Leigh Broxham starting at left-back, Mitch Austin on the left flank, and Fahid Ben Khalfallah and Nick Ansell on the bench.
The visitors dominated the early exchanges and threatened to take the lead when Oliver Bozanic’s close-range shot was blocked by Greens goalkeeper Ryan Scott after 12 minutes.
Bentleigh settled and called the Victory defence into action on a few occasions leading into half-time, but the match remained scoreless at the break.
In a telling 10 minutes from the hour mark, Victory took control of the contest.
First, defender Alan Baro had a header cleared off the line, and a minute later Rojas had a shout for a penalty waved away by referee Alan Milliner.
Rojas then found the back of the net, latching on to a perfectly weighted pass from Bozanic after Broxham had won possession high up the pitch.
Victory’s second goal came from a counter-attack, with Rojas and Jason Geria working the ball up the right-hand side before Troisi’s powerful left-footed shot was deflected on to the crossbar and over the line.
The win set up a Westfield FFA Cup Semi Final Melbourne Derby, with specific match details to be confirmed.
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Result
Bentleigh Greens 0
Melbourne Victory 2 (Marco Rojas 63′, James Troisi 68′)
