Melbourne Victory back to dominant home form against Gold Coast

Melbourne Victory have easily accounted for an undermanned Gold Coast United, winning 4-0 at Etihad Stadium tonight.

The reigning champions extended their lead at the summit of the A-League table to five points after finding some brilliant form at home which had escaped them earlier in their title defence.

Melbourne Victory: 4 (Robbie Kruse ‘29, Nicky Ward ‘45+1, Archie Thompson ‘54, ‘68)
Gold Coast United: 0
Venue: Etihad Stadium
Crowd: 20,537

The home side were almost away inside the first two minutes when Archie Thompson cut the ball back for Robbie Kruse but the youngsters first touch was far too heavy and the Gold Coast defence were able to clear any trouble.

In the eighth minute, Matthew Kemp received the ball down the right side before putting it out in front of Kruse who chipped it back in for Nicky Ward but the former Perth Glory man’s header was wide of the mark.

Moments later, United’s Jason Culina did as he pleased down the right side before crossing for Shane Smeltz but the New Zealand international’s header went agonisingly wide of the left upright.

Melbourne’s Carlos Hernandez almost produced one of his finest moments after United defenders got themselves in a tangle and the Costa Rican pounced but his curling shot did not hit the target, keeping the visitors in the game after an entertaining first quarter of an hour.

Gold Coast’s defence held strong minutes later when the Victory forayed forward with great confidence but Ward’s shot was easily dealt with.

It was all Victory and in the 20th minute, they almost went ahead again after Kruse turned well in the box and teed it up for Kemp but the defender left it for Hernandez whose shot whistled inches over the crossbar.

It should have been 1-0 to the Victory in the 25th minute but Thompson could not find the target from inside the area despite breaking free from Gold Coast defenders.

Finally, the Victory got the goal they were trying so hard for when Kruse received the ball in midfield, found space and drilled a 25-yard swerver into Scott Higgins’ top corner.

A few minutes later, it was almost the Victory again when Kruse, who was experiencing his best spell with his new club, won a free-kick on the edge of the box but Hernandez’s ensuing deadball did not worry Higgins.

Higgins was immediately forced into another save when Ward received the ball outside the area and drove forward but his well-struck shot was knocked away by the United shot-stopper who clearly had his work cut out for him.

Again it was the Victory going forward with Kruse managing to keep possession of the ball and playing in Thompson who traded passes before curling his shot just over where he wanted it to end up.

On the stroke of half-time, the Victory doubled their advantage with a well-worked play that ended with Thompson teeing up Ward who slotted it home from outside the area to give his side complete control of proceedings.

Less than ten minutes after the break, the Victory extended their lead when Thompson latched onto a Ward through ball and tucked it away neatly, sending the Etihad Stadium crowd into raptures.

Thompson made it 4-0 about fifteen minutes after his first goal when he coolly finished a move that involved Kruse and key defender Roddy Vargas and highlighted the home sides dominance on the night.

With less than twenty minutes remaining, United came close to a consolation goal when Smeltz laid it off for youngster James Brown whose shot had to be tipped over the crossbar by Mitch Langerak who was honing in on a second clean sheet in two games since returning to the Victory line-up.

In the final ten minutes it was just a case of both sides playing out time with Gold Coast wishing for the whistle to blow as it seemed the Victory were all goaled out and in summary, the two-time champions had stamped their authority on the competition despite the fact their opposition were clearly without key personnel .