No ceiling on Victory’s A-League season

There’s no limit to what Melbourne Victory can achieve this season, according to coach Kevin Muscat.

Victory’s astonishing 3-2 win over fellow league benchmarks Adelaide has Muscat’s side back on top of the table.

On a night when Victory played in a strip celebrating their first 10 years, Muscat also carved out a piece of history for himself.

He’s the first Victory coach to go unbeaten for eight games in an A-League season, and has a better start to a campaign than any of his predecessors.

The second-season coach raved about his team’s attacking style.

“Our first half of football was as intense football as this country’s seen,” he said.

“The start in Sydney was equivalent to that but we got our reward (tonight) in scoreboard pressure.”

He said he wouldn’t be putting a cap on what they could win this season.

“There’s no reason … why would we put a ceiling on anything?,” he asked.

While Muscat saluted his table-topping side, it was hard to say definitively Adelaide should not have triumphed.

One piece of play encapsulated the hectic evening.

As Adelaide winger Craig Goodwin prepared another assault on the Victory goal, substitute Nick Ansell appeared from an injury break, picking his pocket to shift his side into attack.

Despite four Victory forwards streaming forward against two Reds defenders, their assault ended with a desperate United tackle.

The moment was lost, and away went Adelaide on another rampage forward.

And so it went all night – attack after attack.

Quite how it stayed at the halftime score is anyone’s guess.

Defender Adrian Leijer, at the heart of Victory’s second-half rearguard action, said the atmosphere was electric.

“It was an important three points; we’re stoked to get the win,” he told ABC radio.

On a night when Victory honoured their first 10 years, Leijer said fellow foundation player Leigh Broxham was the right man to score the winner.

“He’s been here for a long time so, for him to score tonight, was pretty special.”

Both coaches have concerns after the frenetic match, with Osama Malik (calf) and Gui Finkler (groin) set for injury assessments.

source: brisbanetimes.com.au