Melbourne Victory moved top of Conference A in the Foxtel Y-League thanks to a come-from-behind 3-1 win over Brisbane Roar on Sunday.
Summary
Luis Lawrie-Lattanzio netted a brace, scoring either side of a fine Birkan Kirdar strike, in warm conditions at Epping Stadium.
Jai Ingham had given Brisbane the lead, but Victory enjoyed the better of proceedings for the most part, moving two points clear at the top through six games.
Victory made a strong start as William Wilson tested Macklin Freke early before the Roar goalkeeper was booked for bringing down Josh Hope.
But, Brisbane took the lead through Ingham, who converted a one-on-one after Victory turned the ball over in a dangerous area.
Victory goalkeeper Matthew Sutton made a good save to deny Ingham a second in the 21st minute before the host threatened.
Joshua Varga fired an effort at Freke before Victory’s best chance of the first half, Lawrie-Lattanzio putting a close-range effort over after Brandon Lauton’s wonderful work down the right.
Victory continued to dominate possession to begin the second half, Wilson firing across the face of goal after a solo run in the 57th minute.
The host’s pressure paid off with 20 minutes remaining as Lawrie-Lattanzio tucked away a Kristijan Dobras cutback to equalise.
Just six minutes later and Victory was ahead, Kirdar beating his marker down the left before curling an effort into the far corner.
The win was sealed in the 89th minute through Lawrie-Lattanzio, who headed in a beautiful cross from So Nishikawa.
Head coach Gareth Naven’s post-match thoughts
“I think the players were really happy with what they produced today. They’re trying to get better at performing themselves in regards to how we want to play defensively, attackingly and understanding that the most important thing is what am I giving to the team to help the team produce a performance. It’s important they recognise that performing and winning today brings them first spot and that pressure is a good pressure for youth players to understand to know what it feels like, to know what it looks like when you’re actually in a situation where you’ve got to win games to chase down opponents, chase down the league, chase down league titles and that is a really good learning experience today for our youth team.”
Result
Foxtel Y-League 2019/20 Round 7
Melbourne Victory 3 (Luis Lawrie-Lattanzio 70’/89′, Birkan Kirdar 76′)
Brisbane Roar 1 (Jai Ingham 18′)
Melbourne Victory: Matthew Sutton (gk) (c); Brandon Lauton (Jack Morton 67′), Zayden Bello, Matthew Bozinovski, So Nishikawa; Jay Barnett, William Wilson; Josh Hope (Birkan Kirdar 44′), Kristijan Dobras, Luis Lawrie-Lattanzio; Joshua Varga (Nishan Velupillay 67′).
