Melbourne Victory’s Vargas: Sydney win a handful of redemption

Melbourne Victory defender Roddy Vargas admits Saturday night’s 3-0 win over arch enemies Sydney FC went some way to redeeming the loss to derby rivals the Heart a week earlier.

The Victory returned to their runners-up form of last season by dominating reigning champions Sydney at Etihad Stadium and Vargas said it was a good step forward after slightly backtracking against the Heart.

“It was very encouraging. The boys were still hurting from the first ever Melbourne derby. To go down to Melbourne Heart, the new team in the league in front of a massive crowd, it was very disappointing for the team, the fans and the members," he said.

"We felt we let the fans down that night, we had to come back on Saturday and score three goals and not concede, it went a little way for us to pay them back. Hopefully we can continue to do that."

Victory midfielder Billy Celeski agreed with Vargas’ sentiments and said it had given the side plenty of assurance heading into this weekend’s clash with the Brisbane Roar at Suncorp Stadium.

“We were really hurt by that loss against the Heart. It was really important to get up against Sydney," Celeski said. "They were looking for the win too. To get a 3-0 result against them, it's really boosted our confidence."