Arzani amazes as Victory knock Wanderers out of finals
George Clarke |
Daniel Arzani was the star of the show as Melbourne Victory edged past Western Sydney Wanderers to claim a 2-1 A-League Men elimination final win.
Victory will play host premiers Auckland in the first match of a two-legged semi-final next Saturday, and Arzani will be on deck after he helped Arthur Diles’ men end the Wanderers’ finals campaign.
Arzani had to be helped off the field by Victory medical staff with 10 minutes to go, but Diles explained the Socceroos ace was simply suffering from cramp.
The 26-year-old had been electric on Saturday, having a hand in both of his side’s goals as they ended the Wanderers’ 11-game unbeaten run in front of 16, 399 spectators at CommBank Stadium.
“He (Arzani) played to the level that we know he can show,” Diles said.
“I think he can play better than that as well … he put in a great shift there.
“His body cramped up from all the hard work, and that’s the other part of the game where he’s growing, his defensive duty and discipline.”
The Wanderers had chances to tie the game in the final quarter of an hour.
Star import Juan Mata blazed a golden opportunity over the bar to leave coach Alen Stajcic cursing his side’s lack of killer instinct.
“They’re a top team, a good attacking team and we let them get the lead and allowed them to sit back,” said Stajcic, who was involved in a heated full-time discussion with Diles.
“Those moments of quality when he had them, we didn’t take our chances.”
Victory did a terrific job to nullify the Wanderers’ attacking threats, and it helped that at the other end Arzani was clearly in a mood to make an impact.
The Socceroos winger has consistently had his work rate and effort questioned, particularly by former Victory manager and current national team boss Tony Popovic.
But Arzani was popping up everywhere on Saturday and he gave Victory their lead after taking charge of his side’s attack on the right.
Arzani scampered in-field and, unchallenged, floated the ball past Gabriel Cleur and found left-back Kasey Bos, who buried the ball past Lawrence Thomas to give the away side a sixth-minute lead.
The early goal seemed to spark the Wanderers into action, and after some encouraging waves of attack they eventually broke through courtesy of Zac Sapsford.
Brandon Borrello poked a ball through the Victory defence in the 23rd minute and Sapsford raced ahead, turning the ball beyond the reach of Jack Duncan with his first touch.
But Arzani took matters into his own hands to ensure Victory went in at halftime with a 2-1 lead.
Jinking down the left touchline this time, the winger took on Cleur and beat him to the byline to squeeze a ball back across the face of the six-yard box.
Bozhidar Kraev failed to beat Zinedine Machach to the ball and the Frenchman struck past Thomas.
Arzani looked the most likely to conjure something for Victory to put the game to bed, but he trudged off with a limp.
Wanderers boss Stajcic had thrown Mata into the game in pursuit of a goal.
And while the Spanish international nearly set up fellow sub Marcus Antonsson, he fluffed at the best chance of the night.
Mata was unmarked in the middle of the box when the ball was played to him, but he skied it into the second tier of the grandstand.
Victory will host Auckland next Saturday (May 17) at AAMI Park, before a return leg at GoMedia Stadium on May 24.
AAP
