The Central Coast Mariners were tonight at AAMI Park to take on Melbourne Victory. This was a keenly anticipated match with the both teams on 31 points, six behind ladder leaders Wellington Phoenix.
This match comes after both teams played mid-week with Victory having played on Tuesday in a come from behind win against A-League opponents in Western United. The Mariners mid-week opponents on Thursday were Macarthur Bulls in the AFC Cup ASEAN Zonal Final which went to extra-time with the Mariners also coming from behind in a last gasp 3-2 win.
Tonight's game started as many expected with Victory dominating possession but the back 5 formation that the Mariners were using easily accounted for many of Victory's attacking raids.
The home side did have one chance in the 19th minute when a mistake from Mariners back Nathan Paull gave Daniel Arzani a chance but Arzani pulled his shot wide of the left-hand upright.
During the first half there was an intriguing battle between Arzani and Mariners mid-fielder Mikael Doka with the latter having the better of the contests.
The Mariners had the best chance of both teams to score in the 29th minute after Angel Torres drew a foul just outside the Victory penalty box. Mikael Doka took the spot kick and forced a save from Victory's goalkeeper Paul Izzo who stopped the shot from going into the top left corner.
Score was 0-0 at half-time.
Both teams made a substitution at half-time with the Mariners replacing Ryan Edmonson with Alou Kuol, looking to inject some pace into the forward line.
It only took three minutes into the second half for the Mariners to take the lead. The Mariners won a free-kick that was well taken by Angel Torres resulting in Victory player Ryan Teague taking the ball into his own goal.
Both sides had chances in the rest of the half but neither could take advantage to change the scoreline.
There was late drama with a total of three reds cards issued, two for Victory and one for Mariners. Victory's Miranda received a red card after being issued with a second yellow card after fouling Alou Kuol in the 80th minute.
Victory were reduced to nine players when Jordi Valadon was shown a direct red card as a result of fouling Alou Kuol.
Mariners Ronald Barcellos also received a straight red after only being on the field for 2 minutes for a foul on Victory's Connor Chapman.
This 1-nil win keeps the Mariners Men in second position on the ladder on 34 points, only 3 points behind Wellington but 3 points ahead of 3rd placed Victory.
The Mariners Men next play Newcastle Jets in Newcastle on Saturday, 2nd March 2024 with kick-off scheduled for 6:00pm.