Victory and Auckland cancel each other out in opening round clash
AAMI PARK, Melbourne — Truth be told, it’s a wonder that the A-League Men doesn’t produce more games across its opening rounds like Melbourne Victory’s 0-0 draw with Auckland FC on Saturday.
The game may have been “personal” according to the Kiwi side’s socials, an opportunity to source some level of revenge for their semifinal elimination at the hands of Arthur Diles’ side last year, but it was also the first league fixture for both sides after the longest offseason in world football. Even the Australia Cup hadn’t offered much scope to break the monotony: it 49 days since Auckland’s loss to Heidelberg United in the semifinals and an even longer 81 days since Victory’s loss in that competition’s round of 32.
So neither side was able to bring any semblance of momentum into the contest, nor a sense of cohesion with their new signings. Both teams were also missing players who were likely envisioned as key figures for this fixture when the preseason started many months ago.
Thus, in hindsight, no matter how many declarations of vengeance Auckland put on their accounts – Victory, conversely, now forced to figure out where they rank the Kiwis in their list of what feels like 11 rivals – maybe a goalless stalemate at AAMI Park was probably always the most likely result.
Both sides showed flashes of what they wanted to do throughout the contest, hints at patterns honed during long hours on the training track and principles instilled during hours of study. But for now, these flashes remain closer to the realm of the hypothetical rather than anything tangible, with their work-in-progress nature buried in the mire brought about by two defences that, while not overly dominant, were up to the task of shutting down most things thrown their way.
Auckland have made somewhat of a habit of doing this to oppositions during their short existence, of course, building their premiership-winning debut season off the back of one of the league’s stiffest defences. Diles, meanwhile, was of the view that this organisation and resoluteness, displayed across 90 minutes, represented a clear building block for his side.
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“We lose that game last year, twice,” said Diles. “For me, there are a lot of positives to take out of that match. We’ve shown growth as a team. We didn’t give anything away. We were disciplined for the whole match.
“Last year was maybe a focus problem. Maybe focus and discipline. We were disciplined for many moments, but then we’d fall short in one or two. And that would cost us. It’s important that our mentality and our resilience keep growing.”
The two best chances of the game, the two moments where it genuinely felt like a goal would have been deserved, arrived in quick succession. Jesse Randall somehow failed to bundle in a goalmouth scramble on the half-hour mark, following a Marlee Francois set-piece delivery. Looking back, it was another clue of the final result: Auckland feasting on set pieces and finding ways to will the ball over the line last season but unable to do so on this evening.
Ten minutes later, up the other end, Michael Woud was making a wicked reaction to get down and keep out Keegan Jelacic’s side-footed volley, the winger picked out at the back post after some slick build-up work from Sebastian Esposito and Jordi Valadon.
“In the end, I think we have the best chance of the match: their keeper makes a world-class save,” said Diles. “There weren’t a lot of chances, but the best one fell to us.”
Those chances stood out as the most obvious in a contest that otherwise placed a premium on chances, as well as the kind of build-up play to create them. The likes of Randall, Lachlan Brook, and Denis Genreau would all have looks as time elapsed, but without fail, they would find themselves in a position where a defender was lunging in to block the attempt, or the opposition keeper had read the play and positioned themselves well.
“I’m a little bit disappointed that we didn’t get the three points,” Corica said. “But I think all in all, we had a couple of good chances to score.
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“They got blocked, or we didn’t put our body on the line to get in those areas and be a little bit more clinical.
“But now that’s an area obviously we can improve on next week defensively, I thought we were good.”
If you were a Victory fan looking for something to hang your hat on, and ‘probably losing this game last year’ isn’t really rocking your boat, then it undoubtedly would have been the play of Genreau, who was best afield in his Victory debut.
Back in Australia after leaving Spanish side Deportivo La Coruna, the 27-year-old has returned to his hometown of Melbourne with an eye on forcing his way into Tony Popovic’s squad for the World Cup. And while the A-Leagues’ late start and his extended absence from the national setup have given him an absolute mountain to climb on that front, his performance on Saturday at least made it clear that such a goal isn’t totally out of the realm of possibility.
Playing in his natural ten role - one wonders how Diles will balance and Juan Mata in the months ahead - Genreau quickly established himself as the conduit through which Victory’s most promising attacks flowed in his debut in navy blue, and his technique, touch, and vision in tight areas stood out as a class above on multiple occasions.
“Just the beginning with Denny,” said Diles. “A fantastic footballer. He offers so much, he’s so versatile. He’s got so many things to his game.
“Tonight, he was excellent in his first game back in a while. It’s an intense match there; they’re a physical team and they’re a good team. It was a good baptism for him to see what the A-League is like; it’s probably changed a little bit since he last played in it.”