Melbourne Victory are licking their wounds after an impressive 2-0 win over Perth Glory at AAMI Park on Saturday night, with Archie Thompson and Matthew Kemp forced from the pitch.
Melbourne Victory are licking their wounds after an impressive 2-0 win over Perth Glory at AAMI Park on Saturday night, with Archie Thompson and Matthew Kemp forced from the pitch.
Victory launched themselves back into finals contention and leapfrogged Newcastle (their next opponent) into fifth, but the win came at a cost with Thompson limping off with a hamstring injury moments after scoring the opener in first-half stoppage time.
Meanwhile, Kemp lasted just 32 minutes before departing with a groin complaint but it was Thompson’s injury whilst leaping over the oncoming Tando Velaphi in Perth’s goal, which is the main concern.
Assistant coach Aaron Healey said Thompson and Kemp, who both recently returned from knee reconstructions, would be assessed during the week while Hernandez (ankle) is expected to recover in time for the Newcastle clash in a week’s time.
“I honestly don’t know with those guys – (Kemp), (Thompson), I’m pretty sure Carlos (Hernandez) will be alright,” was Healey’s assessment of the damage.
Healey though was optimistic about Melbourne’s replacements and pointed to Victory’s depth.
“With that we’ve obviously got three guys who are sitting on the sides who are good enough to step up in Mate Dugandzic, Leigh Broxham and Billy Celeski,” he said.
“You get these little hiccups along the way and I’m sure we can cover for them.”
Healey also praised in-form striker Robbie Kruse who failed to score against Perth but leads the league with 10 goals.
“We’ve got Robbie Kruse… I thought tonight he was outstanding again, his defensive work is underestimated. I think Carlos (Hernandez) is getting better. For me tonight I thought Marvin was sensational. He does a job in defence and attack,” he said.
Thompson’s replacement Ricardinho is likely to be given more game time and while Healey admitted the injuries were a concern, he was grateful for the three points.
“Most important thing is we got the result,” he said.
“I think we’ve played a fraction better this year and not got a result.”
“The important factors were (the) clean sheet… and I always thought going forward we were going to cause them problems. We got two good goals, the set pieces obviously worked for us.”
“Sometimes you don’t play the pretty football that we’re probably renowned for but we ground it out tonight and got a really important result.”
Healey went on to pay tribute to Diogo Ferreira, who deputised for Billy Celeski with his first 90-minute run and was more than competent in the middle of the park.
Healey said the youngster ‘acquitted himself really well’ and having been the ‘standout in Victory’s Youth League side’ for much of their season, deserved a chance.
