Grinch Finkler Steals A Point For Melbourne Victory

[mack]

Gui Finkler converted an extremely controversial free kick deep into stoppage time to rescue a point for Melbourne Victory in the Wanderers away match in Melbourne tonight.

 

To the surprise of those who have not regularly followed the Wanderers team sheets, Tony Popovic rang the changes in rotation with the ongoing heavy summer football schedule. Aaron Mooy, Shinji Ono & Tomi Juric were left out of the squad completely and Youssouf Hersi began on the bench. Jason Trifiro made a rare start in the central attacking midfield role, and he was joined by Labinot Haliti up front, with Tahj Minniecon & Kwabena Appiah on the wings. Teenager Alusine Fofanah was given the chance of a debut but was not brought on.

 

Brendon Santalab looked to have secured all three points for the visitors with his strike in the 71st minute, but Finkler had the last laugh. Iacopo La Rocca by Peter Green to have felled Finkler after the Victory midfielder lost the ball, and from the resulting free kick was curled in at the far post with Ante Covic unable to keep it out.

 

After the Wanderers dominated the early stages it was the Victory who had the best chance of the half and arguably the game itself. With 18 minutes on the clock Kosta Barbarouses slid a ball across the 18 yard box that beat the dive of Ante Covic. The entire stadium expected Connor Pain to make the simple tap-in but the young winger got his feet tangled horribly, sending the ball ricocheting off his feet and spraying wide. Their next good chance in the 28th minute was the result of a Nichols cutback but it was blazed high by James Troisi.

 

Prior to half-time the Wanderers were disappointed when desperate defence and wayward finishing kept them from taking the lead. Minniecon burst past Jason Geria and laid a ball across the face of goal. Appiah had his effort blocked by a valiant dive by Adama Traore, who then managed to get in the way of two rebound efforts from Haliti & Kwabena, Haliti eventually got the ball clear and his attempted chip evaded the keeper and three defenders on the line but it screwed wide and the chance went begging.

 

The second half was similar to the first as both teams exchanged attacks and periods of dominance. The opening chance of the half fell to Nichols who flashed a shot across goal. Next up was a pair of handball shouts. The first from the Victory, who argued for a penalty that replays showed Topor-Stanley had not deliberate played at the ball with his hands. The Wanderers were then robbed of a stonewall handball up the other end by referee Peter Green when Adrian Leijer made a save on a shot from Minniecon.

 

Western Sydney then got the goal on their own. Minniecon stole the ball and drove through the middle of the pitch and released recent substitute Santalab, his first touch was a little wide but his second slid the ball under the despairing dive from Nathan Coe to open the scoring.

 

Melbourne finally took advantage of the generous officiating toward the home side in the 93rd minute. Hersi was fouled on halfway by Finkler pushing Hersi in the back but a free kick was not given. Victory took the ball to the edge of the Wanderers and Finkler lost the ball but was adjudged to have been fouled by La Rocca. The off contract play maker punished the Wanderers to rescue a point with his wonderful free kick. The Victory faithful, silent for much of the match finally came to life to celebrate their team dredging up a point at home against an away side resting the majority of their first choice lineup.

 

The cliched "would have taken the point prior to kick-off" draw leaves the Wanderers 4 points adrift of 1st placed Brisbane, and keeps them 4 points clear of Victory in 3rd, although Newcastle have a game in hand, on the 29th against Adelaide that if won could see the Jets within 2 points of the Wanderers. Western Sydney continue to ride on a 5 game unbeaten streak.

 

The Wanderers next match is on New Year's Day, the 1st of January 2014, at Parramatta Stadium against the Wellington Phoenix, kick-off at 7:00pm.

 

Follow the @WestSydney twitter page and our Facebook Page for A-League news & discussion.

 

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[theguyyouwishyouwere]

#CovicOut

[Erebus]

#PopaOut

[Neverbloom]

it was a **** match in general

 

i wonder how much victory payed the ref

Edited December 28, 2013 by UncleGoat

[bombagol]

#CovicOut

I think that's way too harsh. Must be honest, it was a cracker of a free kick, not many keepers would've been able to get to it.

 

Or maybe I'm just not reading sarcasm very well.

Edited December 28, 2013 by bombagol

[Erai]

Thought all the changes to the starting line up worked well enough, except Trifiro. To me he struggled to take hold of the midfield the way that Mooy and Ono can. Great result with this line up away from home though.

I said before the game that I'd be over the moon with a win, very happy with a draw, and a loss will hurt but be understandable. I think just the way it happened makes it a bit hard to swallow.

[SBW]

18 fouls went against us compared to the Victory getting 7

 

Does that itself say alot about Green's biasness against us tonight??

[theguyyouwishyouwere]

 

#CovicOut

I think that's way too harsh. Must be honest, it was a cracker of a free kick, not many keepers would've been able to get to it.

 

Or maybe I'm just not reading sarcasm very well.

 

 

hard to believe, but serious. 

 

it was covic's fault that goal was conceded. simple. poor positioning lead to the goal. people get on dapuzzo's back in a heartbeat when he makes a costly mistake, why not covic? tyson in, covic out for the nix game. simple. blood tyson, punish covic. he ****ed up, cost two valuable points, he should face the consequences.

[Lookers]

Thought all the changes to the starting line up worked well enough, except Trifiro. To me he struggled to take hold of the midfield the way that Mooy and Ono can. Great result with this line up away from home though.

 

I said before the game that I'd be over the moon with a win, very happy with a draw, and a loss will hurt but be understandable. I think just the way it happened makes it a bit hard to swallow.

Too true. If we had been trailing and gotten that last minute goal, I would be absolutely ecstatic. But we didn't. We were robbed. This stinks!

[West13]

Ummm not even Bozza blamed Covic and he blames GKs for everything.

Edited December 28, 2013 by West13

[Balkanite]

You cant be serious, its not Covic's fault that free kick was given?

[Neverbloom]

as soon as he got that free kick i knew the ball was going in the net

[ManfredSchaefer]

Still wanna get into a high building outside where the referees get together for their pre-round briefings with an RPG loaded with exploding bullshite and take a shot (hey, officials need constructive feedback once in awhile) however when I do calm down I guess I'll look at this game like that played almost a year to the day against Perth. We had a similar amount of changes then and were unlucky to come back from their with a draw, so I guess the fates have rewarded/punished us accordingly.

 

I trust and admire Popa but if we had either Tomi or Shinji in tonight it would've been a definite win. 

[theguyyouwishyouwere]

You cant be serious, its not Covic's fault that free kick was given?

 

no, i'm blaming covic for the ball going in. he should have saved it. for a keeper like him, on a night like he had, he could have saved that with his eyes closed if he had positioned himself correctly.

[GunnerWanderer]

What a fantastic game of football.

 

Away fans owned the stadium, i was thinking pre game it would be good if they get 500, what I saw blew me away I never thought it would match last year but from what I saw it bettered it easy. Massive respect.

 

Who care about the ref both teams had enough chances to win. It was as an enteraining game as you could ask for.

 

And it will be said over and over again. No Mooy, Bridge, Ono, Juric and Hersi starting and we went away and got within 30 seconds of 3 points.

Cannot find negative in any of this. 

 

Well done to all on and off the field. 

 

And **** the NT - go on about being silent which they pretty much were and they decide to sing once a goal goes in. What a bunch of muppets. In terms of respect you're on par with the Cove for me now. NT = lying pieces of ****

[Guest mickisnot]

Hey guys! Want to see my breakdown off this weeks points!!!

 

Here it comes!!!

 

1: The Referee - Not picking up on any of Victory's reckless thuggery 

2: The Referee - Mathew Spiranovic yellow card. Seriously ... what was that given for?

3: The Referee - Not blowing his whistle when Hersi was thrown off the ball, but no more than two seconds later blows his whistle when La Rocca sort of fouls the guy.

 

The referees in the A-league are just about the dumbest on the entire f*cking planet. Polenz does two bad fouls and he's targeted by referees everywhere. Yet a team with Mus***** (the leg breaker remember) with intense thuggery just gets sweeped off the f*cking radar??? Seriously, it's sh*t like this that makes me want to go back to being a f*cking eurosnob.

[MiguelB]

I reckon Covic got hurt trying to save that ball. Head smackbang on the post.

Tyson for GK next match?

[ManfredSchaefer]

Hey guys! Want to see my breakdown off this weeks points!!!

 

Here it comes!!!

 

1: The Referee - Not picking up on any of Victory's reckless thuggery 

2: The Referee - Mathew Spiranovic yellow card. Seriously ... what was that given for?

3: The Referee - Not blowing his whistle when Hersi was thrown off the ball, but no more than two seconds later blows his whistle when La Rocca sort of fouls the guy.

 

The referees in the A-league are just about the dumbest on the entire f*cking planet. Polenz does two bad fouls and he's targeted by referees everywhere. Yet a team with Mus***** (the leg breaker remember) with intense thuggery just gets sweeped off the f*cking radar??? Seriously, it's sh*t like this that makes me want to go back to being a f*cking eurosnob.

 

Mick, as a fellow Bay 65'er let me say love your rant...don't let the anger die brother

[theguyyouwishyouwere]

Hey guys! Want to see my breakdown off this weeks points!!!

 

Here it comes!!!

 

1: The Referee - Not picking up on any of Victory's reckless thuggery 

2: The Referee - Mathew Spiranovic yellow card. Seriously ... what was that given for?

3: The Referee - Not blowing his whistle when Hersi was thrown off the ball, but no more than two seconds later blows his whistle when La Rocca sort of fouls the guy.

 

The referees in the A-league are just about the dumbest on the entire f*cking planet. Polenz does two bad fouls and he's targeted by referees everywhere. Yet a team with Mus***** (the leg breaker remember) with intense thuggery just gets sweeped off the f*cking radar??? Seriously, it's sh*t like this that makes me want to go back to being a f*cking eurosnob.

 

you shouldn't tell people who your voting for, it could influence peoples votes and not give an honest result.

[Neverbloom]

I reckon Covic got hurt trying to save that ball. Head smackbang on the post.

Tyson for GK next match?

hopefully, Tyson deserves a game

Edited December 28, 2013 by UncleGoat

[Guest mickisnot]

 

Hey guys! Want to see my breakdown off this weeks points!!!

 

Here it comes!!!

 

1: The Referee - Not picking up on any of Victory's reckless thuggery 

2: The Referee - Mathew Spiranovic yellow card. Seriously ... what was that given for?

3: The Referee - Not blowing his whistle when Hersi was thrown off the ball, but no more than two seconds later blows his whistle when La Rocca sort of fouls the guy.

 

The referees in the A-league are just about the dumbest on the entire f*cking planet. Polenz does two bad fouls and he's targeted by referees everywhere. Yet a team with Mus***** (the leg breaker remember) with intense thuggery just gets sweeped off the f*cking radar??? Seriously, it's sh*t like this that makes me want to go back to being a f*cking eurosnob.

 

Mick, as a fellow Bay 65'er let me say love your rant...don't let the anger die brother

 

 

My cousin who watched the game at home (just turned 18 and just finished the HSC) was told to calm down by his mum. He messaged me soon after with this:

 

"Mum just doesn't understand. PASSION IS NOT A CRIME!!!"

 

As for me, the white line fever hits hard. Hits real hard ... F*cking refs ...

[Lmc]

Not unhappy with the result.

But, **** me, the "refereeing" tonight was an absolute disgrace.

 

Good result considering:

Away from Home

Against decent opposition

Extremely under strength squad

 

[Guest mickisnot]

 

Hey guys! Want to see my breakdown off this weeks points!!!

 

Here it comes!!!

 

1: The Referee - Not picking up on any of Victory's reckless thuggery 

2: The Referee - Mathew Spiranovic yellow card. Seriously ... what was that given for?

3: The Referee - Not blowing his whistle when Hersi was thrown off the ball, but no more than two seconds later blows his whistle when La Rocca sort of fouls the guy.

 

The referees in the A-league are just about the dumbest on the entire f*cking planet. Polenz does two bad fouls and he's targeted by referees everywhere. Yet a team with Mus***** (the leg breaker remember) with intense thuggery just gets sweeped off the f*cking radar??? Seriously, it's sh*t like this that makes me want to go back to being a f*cking eurosnob.

 

you shouldn't tell people who your voting for, it could influence peoples votes and not give an honest result.

 

 

 

I can always count on those little "one liners" you do to cheer me up

[ManfredSchaefer]

BTW anyone get a crowd number?

[Guest mickisnot]

BTW anyone get a crowd number?

 

I'm fairly sure it was 22,???

 

Just edited got this in: 22,133

[Flytox]

22,133

 

And officially every ticket was sold.

Edited December 28, 2013 by Flytox

[Victory]

Crazy game.

 

RBB incredible.

[dcol]

Heartbreaker, but we're still bringing in points week by week.

 

Worst is the foul on Hersi in the leadup to the foul on Victory.

[JackDoff]

Wall didn't jump for free kick, might've got small deflection n take some sting off the shot

[mrcovers]

My experience tonight at the game. I'm red reserved member. Tonight was the greatest night of my life. I've lost my voice. Tonight we showed why western Sydney is number 1. Ps was there a game tonight.