Western United played out another thriller against Melbourne Victory, drawing 2-2 in the Isuzu UTE A-League Men on Thursday night.
The Green and Black appeared to be in cruise control, dominating the game and leading 1-0 after Daniel Penha’s opening goal just before half-time.
But Melbourne Victory hit back with two goals in nine minutes to flip the game on its head, though United refused to be beaten this time around.
After Penha scored from a Ben Garuccio assist, the Brazilian returned the favour in the 90th minute as Garuccio scored his third goal in 10 games to give Western United a point.
Western United Team News
John Aloisi went with an unchanged 18-man squad for the match but made one alteration to the starting XI as Matthew Grimaldi came back in to replace Riku Danzaki.
The remainder of the side was reloaded from last week’s win against Western Sydney Wanderers. Matt Sutton, James Donachie and Sebastian Pasquali all started against their former side.
First Half
There was an early scare for Western United when the referee approached the VAR monitor to review a potential handball by Michael Ruhs in the box.
Thankfully for the Green and Black the decision went the other way rather than a penalty being awarded as Damien Da Silva had handled earlier.
That, in truth, was really the only moment that raised any eyebrows in the first half, a period plagued with passages of nice play from each team but an overall lack of quality.
Western United had four first-half corners and none of them found a Green and Black shirt in the box, while Victory also failed to make use of a couple of set piece opportunities.
The closest anybody really came was when Daniel Penha’s long-range effort took a deflection and looked like it might wrong-foot Paul Izzo in Victory’s goal, but the keeper adjusted quickly and the spin of the ball helped him out too as he collected safely.
Roderick Miranda found himself in unchartered territory on the edge of the attacking box and after wriggling into a yard of space he swung an awkward left boot at the ball but sent it harmlessly wide.
It was fitting, then, that the first real piece of outstanding quality brought about the opening goal as United moved the ball from back to front, side to side before punishing Victory in the box.
The ball found its way to Grimaldi on the left who slid in Garuccio on the overlap, and the left-back’s ball in was perfect for Penha to run onto and power into the net.
That marked a goal in four straight starts for the Brazilian as he gave United the lead heading into the break.
Second Half
United came out in the second half and looked to build on the positivity from the first period, continuing to play expansively in possession in search of more goals.
The chance came early on in the second half when the Green and Black put together another incisive move, bring Garuccio into play high up the pitch.
The No.17 made his way into the box under pressure from Salim Khelifi, and a tangle of legs saw Garuccio tumble to the ground and win his side a penalty.
Michael Ruhs assumed responsibility from the spot, but Izzo was up to the task as he got down to his left hand side to save the initial attempt before reacting quickly to sweep the ball away with his feet before Ruhs could make a follow-up attempt.
That miss didn’t upset United’s play as Aloisi’s men continued to push on in the hope of killing the game off.
Despite having only two shots on goal and none on target beyond the opening hour, Victory always remained in the game while it was 1-0 and Ben Folami took advantage with an equaliser from close range as United’s defensive marking lapsed for a moment.
That goal changed the complexion of the game and Victory suddenly had the lead nine minutes later when Chris Ikonomidis hooked an effort in after United had failed to clear a cross.
It seemed as though the Green and Black would suffer another heart-breaking defeat from a leading position against Melbourne Victory, but Penha and Garuccio had other ideas.
The two left-footers were everywhere all night and Penha returned the favour in the 90th minute, finding Garuccio wide open in the box to blast a shot beyond Izzo at the near post.
That draw stretched United’s unbeaten run to four matches in the Isuzu UTE A-League, though Aloisi was left thinking all three points were up for grabs given the dominance throughout the game.
