A Victory childhood dream and a moment of brilliance breaks open the Christmas Derby
Really, it was going to be the only way that either side won the annual Christmas Derby: a moment of brilliance to cut through the flotsam and jetsam of an otherwise forgettable clash betwixt Melbourne City and Melbourne Victory. A blast drilled from range in the 91st minute from Matthew Grimaldi, who took two touches to steady himself after a short corner routine worked its way to him via Juan Mata and Denis Genreau before he beat a to that point unassailable Patrick Beach in the City goal.
The 22-year-old, a late preseason arrival after the ‘hibernation’ of Western United, grew up as a fan of Victory, singing the names of the likes of Gui Finkler and Archie Thompson alongside the thousands of others that made up the North Terrace. Despite this, he’d never had the chance to play for the club as a junior, landing first with City’s academy after leaving Watsonia Heights FC and then moving to United, where he made his A-League Men breakthrough. The collapse of the West Melbourne club left him at a crossroads, describing that week when the decision to hibernate them came as one of the most stressful of his life, but once Victory came calling, “it was the only choice.”
And on this evening, after writing a dramatic conclusion to one of the biggest games on the Australian footballing calendar, it was his name that was the talk of the terrace; the navy blue contingent of the 17, 619 fans at AAMI Park first roaring to life as he netted the winner in front of them and then serenading him as he and his teammates celebrated a much-needed second win on the bounce.
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“I can’t even remember the ball hitting the net,” he said. “It’s still a bit of a blur. I don’t even know how to explain it. I’ve grown up supporting this club. I didn’t get to play for their academy and go through the ranks; I ended up at City and Western. Now it’s a full circle moment, and I get to score in a derby. I’m just absolutely buzzing.”
So caught up in the moment was Grimaldi that he was the last of the Victory players to return to the dressing room after the final whistle — soaking up the moment with the fans on the touchline. Unfortunately, this also meant that he missed out on the chance to meet Australian football royalty and former Victory coaches Ange Postecoglou and Kevin Muscat, who had both made their way into the dressing rooms following the final whistle.
“I came in, and the boys were saying, Ange was in here. And I was absolutely gutted,” Grimaldi said. “I was asking, is he still around? Is he still around? And everyone said, ‘no’. So I just missed him. So I’m gutted.”
Muscat and Postecoglou weren’t the only luminaries in attendance on Saturday evening, either. Socceroo legend Craig Moore was present alongside the pair in the box of former Victory chairman Anthony Di Pietro, as was Victory legend and current youth coach Besart Berisha and former Football Australia chairman Chris Nikou. Socceroos assistant coach Hayden Foxe was keeping a close eye on things, while Matildas gaffer Joe Montemurro was watching on from the stands, too. Also present was Hollywood actor Gerard Butler, who is filming a movie in the Victorian capital, as well as Victory minority shareholder and Brighton owner, Tony Bloom.
And perhaps it was good that they were given a grandstand finish, given that few of them, Muscat and Postecoglou and their free flowing attacking presences especially, wouldn’t have been taken in by the 90 minutes of football that preceded Grimaldi’s strike.
If one were being charitable, one would have called it an arm wrestle; both sides having periods of control and creating chances that would have changed the course of the game had they gone in. Juan Mata continued his stellar form since arriving in Melbourne, and Nikos Vergos had a series of quickfire chances in the first half that he couldn’t send in on goal before dropping in an effort in the 64th minute that forced Beach to launch himself skyward to tip over the bar.
Victory keeper Jack Duncan went one better than his opposite number in the 80th minute, somehow keeping out a close-range, bullet header from Medin Memeti after he met an Emin Durakovic corner. Max Caputo had also lurked dangerously before his 69th-minute withdrawal, dragging an effort wide in the first half and hitting the crossbar with a header on the hour mark.
These chances, however, were made all the brighter for the relative gloom that otherwise surrounded them. Muscat, speaking on Paramount at halftime, described both sides as playing less to lose than going for the win, and it felt like a sage observation.
The winner, perhaps fittingly, came from a moment of rare inspiration from players who have the ability to pull something from a hat: coach Arthur Diles revealing post-game that Mata, Genreau, and Grimaldi had improvised the short corner routine after noting a weakness in the City setup.
City had probably shaded the back-and-forth of the 90 prior to that, definitely in the first half, but, gutpunching nature of shipping a 91st-minute winner in a derby aside, did not really do much to justify feeling too aggrieved by the final result. They’ll now lick their wounds ahead of a clash with Macarthur next Tuesday.
“They’ll be hurting, and they’re absolutely hurting in the change room now,” said coach Aurelio Vidmar. “Sometimes, when it hurts like that, you just [need] to bounce back very, very quickly. And the quick turnaround is probably a blessing in disguise.”
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But while City can perhaps write this defeat as a (painful) aberration in a season that otherwise still looks promising on both a domestic and continental level, Victory needed this. Diles had repeatedly stressed during the build-up to the game that last week’s win over Adelaide would mean nothing if they couldn’t back it up in the derby, and, sitting bottom of the table coming in, a loss, especially a bad one, would have immediately turned the heat on his seat all the way back up.
And now, regardless of how it was ultimately delivered, Victory now has its much sought-after back-to-back wins over two of its biggest rivals. No longer rooted to the foot of the table, the compact nature of the standings means they’re now just a point off the top six. With a nine-day break now awaiting them, they will return to action on the 29th against bottom-placed Wellington, a game in which they will be favoured to make it three wins from three.
At some point, they’ll need to bring better performances consistently – Diles was frank in acknowledging his side weren’t spectacular in grabbing the win – but a platform, after their dour start to the season, might slowly be starting to observe.
“It’s all about momentum,” he said. “That’s the important part… you build resilience during tough times.”
“Sometimes, for the players, it’s hard to keep going and stay positive.
“Because in the end, we as coaches and the staff, we believe, we never stop believing, and for them, sometimes, a result can just add to their belief even more.
“And that’s what last week did. It just lifted them up. And they come in tonight. They fought really hard. They’ve backed it up. It’s exactly what we asked for.
“And now you’ve got to keep going. Now you’ve got to build on momentum. Now you’ve got to keep going.”