Victory hang on to win Big Blue
Published: 26 January 2019 Image credit: Getty Images
2-1 defeat of Sydney FC in Australia Day clash
Goals from Ola Toivonen and James Troisi pushed Melbourne Victory into 2nd place in the league table, despite a determined fight-back from Sydney.
Milos Ninkovic scored in the 63rd minute to make it a nervy finish at AAMI Park - Sydney hit the woodwork twice but could not find the equaliser in this high-energy match.
A world-class free kick in the 20th minute from Swedish International Toivonen, curling in off the post from outside the box, set Victory up for their 3rd successive Big Blue win.
They looked to be coasting when a deflected James Troisi sidefooted shot extended their lead in the 2nd half.
But 5 minutes later, Ninkovic finished from a tight angle to get a goal back and the momentum was definitely with the visitors as they hit the post and the crossbar, but couldn't beat Lawrence Thomas for the 2nd time.
A crowd of 21,085 saw Victory leapfrog Sydney to go 2nd in the ladder, keeping up the pressure on leaders Perth Glory.
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