A League Australian Football

If Jim Magillton's Melbourne Victory do not make the Hyundai A-League Finals Series, the inability to hold on to leads will be the main reason.

All season, Melbourne have proven to be inept at maintaining the advantage in critical matches. Wednesday night's match against Gold Coast United was just another example of the issues surrounding the club's lack of defense.

A second-half goal from Harry Kewell was not enough as they gave away an equalizer in the third minute of second-half stoppage time consigned the Victory to a 1-1 draw.

"That was unacceptable. It's disgusting," a visibly upset Kewell told The Australian afterwards. "It happens week in week out. It's just disgusting. I am sure the riot act will be read in the dressing room."

Up next for Melbourne was one final meeting with in-city rivals Melbourne Heart.

"Both teams are not in good form, we're not getting the results we need, and this game's just bigger than three points," said Heart's Clint Bolton to Guy Hand of the Sydney Morning Herald. "This derby, it's the biggest atmosphere in the A-League at the moment.

"If you get on top in the big games, it's like a final. You win a final, it just gives you that massive boost."

Unfortunately, for either side, it felt more like a draw. As in, a scoreless draw.

"I'm pleased. When you're down to 10 men and your back's against the wall, we showed grit, determination, all the characteristics you need," Magilton told Matt Windley of the Melbourne Herald Sun. "They dug in for one another, they showed a great togetherness to dig out a result.

"So, they're positives for me, they're real positives, and we need to just build on this, we need to carry this through. I think it's the first clean sheet in (14 games) so that was great."

Up next for Victory is a match with the Central Coast Mariners. Kickoff at AAMI Park is scheduled for Feb. 10 at 8 p.m. AEST and will be televised by Fox Sports 1.

Without question, it has been a disappointing year  for the Melbourne Victory Football Club, who had to go through a managerial change at the start of the new calendar year.

On Dec. 31, the Victory took on Brisbane Roar at Suncorp Stadium and were dismantled 3-1. Harry Kewell scored his third goal of the season to give Melbourne an early lead that was relinquished just before halftime.

It was a 2-0 shutout defeat to Central Coast Mariners on Jan. 4 at Bluetongue Stadium that sealed the fate of Mehmet Durakovic as manager.

In his place was Jim Magilton, whose time at the helm took place following the game against the Newcastle Jets. Two own goals from Jets defender Sung-Hwan Byun proved to be the difference in the Victory's 2-1 win over Newcastle.

On Jan. 12, Melbourne faced Adelaide United and settled for a 1-1 draw. Archie Thompson scored in the sixth minute for the Victory but could not hold on to the lead in the second half.

Jan. 22 saw the most lopsided defeat in the Magilton era, as they were punched out of nib Stadium by Perth Glory 4-1. Kewell scored the only goal of the match for the Victory in the 68th minute of play.

On Jan 26, Melbourne and Sydney FC resumed their rivalry at AAMi Park. But goals from Isaka Cernak and Fabio in the 45th minute were not enough, as the Victory relinquished yet another lead to settle for a 2-2 draw.

"They've shown me that they certainly have it within them to play attractive football, to play a winning brand of football, to be able to take on all the instructions and go out and actually carry them out," Magilton told Dejan Kalinic of melbournevictory.com.au. "It was important to give a response, it was important for our fans to see that these lads actually care and they did, and they responded very well."

For Magilton, confidence is key heading into the home stretch of the regular season.

"Confidence for a footballer is massive. It makes them believe that they can dig in, dig in for each other, and win a game of football," Magilton added.

Up next for Melbourne is a match with Gold Coast United at Aurora Stadium in Launceston, Tasmania. Kickoff is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 1 at 7:00 p.m. AEST and will be televised by Fox Sports 1.

Hello all, this will be a new weekly update from Australia, with all the news and gossip regarding Australian football.

Results

Melbourne Victory 1 vs. 1 Adelaide United

Melbourne Victory and Adelaide United played out an entertaining draw in front of 20,000 supporters. It was Jim Magilton's first match in the A-League after the sacking of former Melbourne Victory coach, Mehmet Durakovic. 

In a match that had it all, neither team really took the ascendancy, with both goalkeepers at the top of their game. After some master trickery from Harry Kewell, Archie Thompson opened the scoring after six minutes with a powered header that left Adelaide's goalkeeper rooted to the spot. 

In the second half, Melbourne started the stronger but Adelaide's resilience paid off when Sergio Van Dijk scored from Dario Vidosic's corner in the 53rd minute. Both teams had their chances to win it but a draw was played out.

Central Coast Mariners 1 vs. 1 Newcastle Jets

Central Coast and Newcastle faced off in the battle of the F3 derby. The game started slowly, with both teams only registering a half a chance each in the first fifteen minutes.

But after 16 minutes, Newcastle hit Central Coast on the counter and were made to pay after Bradley Porter gave away the ball in midfield. Labinot Haliti scored from a Jeremy Brockie cross to give the Jets a deserved 1-0 lead at halftime after the Central Coast missed a penalty half way through the half.

In the second half it was more or less Central Coast pressing for an equaliser, which they got when towering centre-back Patrick Zwaanswijk scored from a corner after an hour. From then on, it was all Central Coast making all the chances.

Unfortunately no more goals were scored and a draw was seen as the correct result.

Brisbane Roar 2 vs. 1 Sydney FC

Brisbane Roar welcomed Sydney FC to their fortress at Suncorp in the hope that they would gain points on rivals Central Coast who slipped up the day before. 

Unfortunately, things did not go to plan in the first half as Sydney took the lead right before halftime with a Mark Bridge goal silencing the home support. It was a huge wake up call for the Roar as they introduced two of their most influential players in Thomas Broich and Henrique in the second half. 

As the second half wore on, the Roar were making great progress in the attacking third but were not creating enough chances until added time. Bahrani international Adnan gave Brisbane hope after restoring parity with a screamer of a free kick that went into the top right hand corner.

With that momentum the Roar went on the attack in the last minute of play and were rewarded with a great goal from Besart Berisha that broke the hearts of all Sydney fans. The match ended 2-1 but was overshadowed by an end-of-match brawl between Sydney defender Pascal Bosschart and Besart Berisha.

Melbourne Heart 1 vs. 2 Perth Glory

Melbourne Heart played host to the inconsistent Perth Glory who were looking for another win away from home.

Perth Glory started off the stronger side and were rewarded with an early goal after 16 minutes from their influential midfielder Steven McGarry. For the remainder of the half, Perth controlled the game and were unlucky not to extend their lead with some fine goalkeeping from the Heart custodian Clint Bolton.

In the second half Melbourne came out and really started to play some great football that has seen them currently sit third on the table. Their goal came midway through the second half when the Heart's Eli Babalj was tripped in the box. The resulting penalty was missed, but Kristian Sarkies made no mistake from the rebound as he made it one all.

After the positivity shown in attack, Melbourne Heart fell asleep at the back and were punished when a goalkeeping error from Clint Bolton gave Perth the lead again. After the goal was scored, the Melbourne side seemed to lose Heart and Perth prevailed 2-1 winners on a fine summer's afternoon.

Gold Coast United 0 vs. 1 Wellington Phoenix

Bottom club Gold Coast welcomed Wellington Phoenix to Skilled Stadium in the hope that they would gain points on the rest of the teams. In a world first, the Gold Coast coach was miked up so that viewers at home could see first hand how Miron Bleiberg devised and critiqued his team.

Wellington started the stronger of the two teams with two chances falling to Spanish import Dani Sanchez. At halftime it was nil-nil. In the second half it was more of the same from Wellington, but Gold Coast started to attack more.

In a game of wasted chances, it was Wellington's Tim Brown who headed in from a free kick to give the travelling supporters something to smile about after 88 minutes of play. That was the way it stayed, giving the Phoenix all three points to take back to Wellington. Gold Coast now face a mountain to climb to reach the finals.

General News

A spat has erupted between to former Australian Internationals, Robbie Slater and Craig Foster. Foster recently wrote an article highlighting the appointment of Jim Magilton to Melbourne Victory as retrograde and also criticising his coaching style.

Slater reacted negatively to the comments in the article and said,

"In my opinion, it is a racist column and it is beyond me how he continually gets away with these vile articles."

There is still no word from Craig Foster, so I will keep you posted. Information gathered from Courier News.

Statistics

Top Goal Scorers

This is a trial run and I'd love feedback on what else to include. Thank you for reading.

Mehmet Durakovic's Melbourne Victory were taking on Melbourne Heart on Friday at AAMI Park in the renewal of the City Derby. A win over their city rivals was sure to give Victory some hope coming into the rest of the season.

"I think we've improved a lot. The past month, I think we're really starting to play some of our best football. I think we've got our formation right, there are a few youngsters that have come in and done very well," team captain Adrian Leijer told reporters. "There's a bit of a spring in the step at the moment so hopefully we can build on that. I think it's a very good time for the derby to come along."

Young defender Peter Franjic was hopeful that the Victory could also secure a result with a strong effort in the backline.

"It just shows how strong the team is and how competitive the places are and I've been given an opportunity from the coach and hopefully I can repay it and play well because I know Rody will always try and get back into the team," Franjic told reporters after training on Tuesday.

"Just as a player in general, the more games you get the more confident you feel and I've had three games in a row now and feeling a bit more confident, but always knowing that I've got to keep performing because other players are available for selection as well."

"Everywhere throughout the team, there are some good players that aren't even on the bench in the last couple of weeks. If someone gets injured or suspended we're always believe that the players that come in can do the job."

However, Melbourne Heart were up to the task and defeated the Victory 3-2.  A brace from Heart's Matt Thompson in the 37th and 39th minutes did the job, while Alex Terra scored the match winner in the 62nd minute. Archie Thompson scored in the 21st minute for the Melbourne Victory, while Carlos Hernandez recorded a consolation goal in the 90th minute.

With the defeat, Melbourne victory drop to sixth in the A-League standings with a 3-3-6 record (15 points), putting Durakovic in the hot seat.

Melbourne Victory's next contest will be on Dec. 31, when they take on Brisbane Roar at Suncorp Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. AEST.

Mehmet Durakovic's Melbourne Victory needed to get back on the winning track when they took on Wellington Phoenix on Sunday at AAMI Park in Melbourne.

"If those (many) chances (on goal) go at the back of the net, then we're going to hurt teams," Durakovic said after training at Gosch's Paddock on Friday.

"I've been very happy with the way we've been playing the last three or four weeks and if we continue like that we're going to win more games than we're going to draw."

In their last match, Wellington defeated the Brisbane Roar 2-0 thanks to some superior set piece play. Marco Rojas, formerly of the Phoenix, wanted to make amends for his lack of form by playing more matches.

"I think you've got to fight for your position and I knew that coming here," Rojas told the Melbourne Herald Sun. "I've been in and out of the starting 11, so I've got to play so I can gain the match speed and be comfortable playing 90 minutes each week.

"At the moment, I haven't got there because some weeks I haven't performed that well. But against Adelaide, I didn't do too bad when I came on and I'm hoping to build on that and start performing again."

In the fourth minute, Archie Thompson opened the scoring. Diogo Ferreira scored in the 25th minute after Vince Lia recorded an own goal three minutes prior.

Alex Smith earned a consolation goal for Wellington.

With the victory, Melbourne move to fifth on the ladder with a 3-2-6 record (15 points).

"The last three or four weeks we've been playing some really good football and today capped it off," Durakovic told reporters. "The short, sharp passing game that I want these players to play, they basically kept it up right from the start to the end.

"On another day it could've been another four or five goals but to have three or four chances one on one, at least we're creating chances."

Up neXt for Melbourne is a match with rivals Melbourne Heart at AAMI Park. Kickoff is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 23 at 8 p.m. AEST.

After dropping a 4-3 penalty shootout to the Los Angeles Galaxy in a friendly, Mehmet Durakovic's Melbourne Victory were feeling the heat when they faced interstate rivals Adelaide United.

"There's all the talk about Mehmet and about Rini Coolen being under pressure, but at the essence of any sport it's all about the players," former Adelaide manager John Kosmina told Matt Windley of the Melbourne Herald Sun. "What it comes down to now is, coaches aside, the players can take control of their own destiny.

"It's what they want to put in to this game tomorrow night and it's about what they want to put in to this season."

Fans of both teams are apparently disgusted with the current state of affairs, and both Durakovic and current Adelaide boss Rini Coolen are supremos in the hot seat, according to the Age's Michael Lynch.

Nonetheless, assistant manager Kevin Muscat remained optimistic.

"Our last two performances have been relatively good," Muscat told the Age's Jared Lynch. "It's about consolidating and putting our performances into results now because we are a third of our way through the season and it's imperative that we start picking up points.

"Two or three wins and a bounce could really set up your season, and I have no doubt from our perspective that we want that bounce of two or three wins to start now."

A speculative effort in the first minute for Harry Kewell was easily saved by United goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic. A minute later, Carlos Hernandez tried a set piece, but Galekovic was there to make another kick save.

The next several minutes saw the Victory try their luck with corner kicks, but the technique was lacking. Fabian Barbiero had a good look on goal in the 23rd minute for Adelaide, but his speculative attempt went high.

Kewell's next chance in the 26th minute was headed over the bar. In the 31st minute, Kewell got involved in a scuffle that happened on the pitch after he tried to quickly restart possession. Barbiero would be cautioned in the 33rd minute for a challenge on Leigh Broxham.

Melbourne had the lion's share of chances in the first half but the possession was nothing short of dismal. Their opportunities in the 42nd and 43rd minutes off corners were the epitome of their efforts. Promising possession, diabolic finish.

In the only minute of stoppage time, Kewell's misfortunes continued, with a long shot going wide right. At the break, both teams went into the change rooms scoreless.

Leigh Broxham tried his luck in the 47th minute, but his shot went wide left. Dario Vidosic had a look on goal in the 52nd minute but his header was collected by Victory goalkeeper Ante Covic. Thompson's attempt in the 57th minute was squandered rather easily, a sign of his age and the possibility that the game was leaving him ever so subtly.

Hernandez's next shot in the 58th minute was saved by Galekovic. In the 59th minute, Thompson was able to finish a header off a Fabio delivery to make it 1-0 to the Victory.

Yet another chance for Kewell was wasted in the 62nd minute, with his shot going wide right. Bruce Djite nearly equalized in the 64th minute, but the shot went high.

In the 67th minute, Thompson was denied a brace thanks to the heroics of Galekovic. In the 75th minute, Kewell tried another shot, but that was also parried away.

Barbiero equalized in the 82nd minute thanks to poor defending from Fabio. Once again, Melbourne have been unable to hang on to leads minutes from time. This has been a cause of concern for the past several weeks: the inability to build on an advantage.

Kewell had one final chance in the second minute of stoppage time, but he could not connect, and that marked another sorry outing for the Melbourne Victory, who were consigned to another draw. Final score: Melbourne Victory 1-1 Adelaide United.

One has to wonder how long will Mehmet Durakovic remain as the manager of the Victory. It has been a terrible first year for Durakovic, marked by a string of setbacks, poor play, too many penalties surrendered, and countless points left on the table.

And so, the countdown continues.

Up next for Melbourne is their second match with the Wellington Phoenix, scheduled for Dec. 18. Kickoff at AAMI Park is scheduled for 5 p.m. AEST.

Mehmet Durakovic's Melbourne Victory were riding on the heels of a breakthough 3-2 win over Gold Coast United at AAMI Park and needed to build on their result as they hit the road to face the Newcastle Jets at Ausgrid Stadium.

Intimidation has worked in Newcastle's favor against the Victory, as they have dominated at home against their Victorian rivals.

"It is a bit of an eerie place, a bit of a different place to go,"  Melbourne's Leigh Broxham told David Davutovic of the Melbourne Herald Sun. "We've had some good results there, too, but I guess it's not one of the better places we've had. So this week would be a good statement to back up a good result that we had last week."

Then again, Newcastle also are wary of Melbourne's ability to get results on the day.

"I think they're a very dangerous team no matter what, whether they're full of confidence or not full of confidence," Jets manager Gary van Egmond told the Herald Sun. "They've got players within their squad who are capable of turning a match at any given moment.

"Given time and space they can really punish you you have to take that away from them."

Melbourne swingman Harry Kewell has been able to settle down in his role with the Victory, saying earlier this past week that he felt right at home.

"It may sound stupid, or as if this guy is being a big-timer, but literally I walk out there and that's my home, it's where I feel natural and comfortable, besides my actual house with my family," said Kewell to Michael Lynch of the Sydney Morning Herald. "That is something where I can be in front of one person, 1000 people or 100,000 and it does not worry me. That becomes your reality.

"Yes, the other stuff … being the poster boy for the league, that's more the pressure. I think out there you can be natural, you can be doing what you are good at."

17,245 came out for Saturday's contest in the Hunter Valley, which saw Melbourne add more salt to its own wounds in the form of a 3-1 defeat.

Early on, a chance for Newcastle's Jeremy Brockie in the eighth minute sailed wide left. Fabio was cautioned in the ninth minute for a speculative challenge. A chance for Billy Celeski in the 12th minute was cleared.

Carlos Hernandez broke open the scoring in the 20th minute thanks to a delivery from both Harry Kewell and Marco Rojas. A chance in the 22nd minute missed Adrian Leijer. Labanot Haliti had a few looks on goal, but the Victory defense, led by goalkeeper and former Jets netminder Ante Covic, held their ground.

Rojas commited a foul inside the box in the 26th minute, forcing a penalty for Newcastle. It was the eighth penalty the Victory conceded this season. Ryan Griffiths converted from the spot to make it 1-1.

Tiago Calvano was cautioned for the Jets for a foul on Kewell in the 29th minute. Broxham earned a caution in the 36th minute for a challenge on Brockie. Very few opportunities materialized afterwards, with the halftime scoreline remaining 1-1.

Broxham must be a Nostradamus, because the second half confirmed his suspicions.

Haliti capitalized on a Brockie cross from the right side in the 47th minute to give the Jets a 2-1 lead. He was subsequently carded for excessive celebration. A minute later, Nikolai Topor-Stanley was forced to make a clearance on Archie Thompson.

Kewell tried his luck at a header in the 57th minute, but he did win a corner that was eventually cleared. Another shot in the 66th minute from Kewell hit the side netting, sailing wide right. Ruben Zadkovic was cautioned in the 81st minute for Newcastle.

A 79th minute challenge from Topor-Stanley on Thompson was not called, and a penalty opportunity for the Victory was denied.

The non-call by match referee Jared Gillett would prove to be the turning point of the contest at Ausgrid because minutes later, Ryan Griffiths closed the deal in the 87th minute, capitalizing on a turnover and rebound off the initial shot from Zadkovic.

This defeat is bad timing, with a team that is stronger than the Jets—at least on paper—coming to Etihad Stadium on Tuesday. The match may only be a friendly, but this defeat by Melbourne is falling right into the Los Angeles Galaxy's hands.

Kickoff between the Galaxy and Victory is scheduled for Dec. 6 at 7:30 p.m. AEST/12:30 a.m. PT/3:30 a.m. ET and will be televised locally by Fox Soccer Channel and Fox Sports 1.

Melbourne return to A-League action on Saturday, Dec. 10 when they face Adelaide United at Etihad. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. AEST.

Mehmet Durakovic was under the microscope on Sunday as his Melbourne Victory took on Gold Coast United at AAMI Park in Melbourne. Lingering near the bottom, the Victory were in need of a victory to remain in playoff contention.

The fans were getting restless and were losing their patience with Durakovic for the lack of results.

"Promoting a young coach from the youth team is one strategy, and can be an excellent one," said Craig Foster in a article for the Sydney Morning Herald. "It brings a coach with an understanding of the culture and overall playing idea through the system, although usually there would be a period as first team assistant before the head role.

"But a young coach should always be backed by an experienced assistant, football director or chief executive. Otherwise, the potential for chaos under pressure is too great."

In addition, the club faced another distraction in the form of the Abel Balbo deal going up in smoke, according to reports from the Herald Sun. Balbo would have been the technical director for the Victory, but in a report by the Australia, Durakovic raised an iron fist.

"I am the boss of this football club," Durakovic said after training this past week. "The buck stops with me. Kevin Muscat is my assistant coach and so is Steve Mautone. We have known each other since day one. But at the end of the day, I call the shots here."

Team captain Adrian Leijer did all he could to put on a brave face in spite of the dire circumstances that surrounded his team.

"It's round eight, there's still a long way to go and we are confident we can turn this around," Leijer told Michael Lynch of the Sydney Morning Herald. "This year the spotlight has been on us a lot more, whether that's part of the reason for the performance who knows. But we are all professional and have to deal with it.

"This is a tough time and that's how you get together. If anything this has probably pulled us together."

As with last week's match against Perth Glory, the Victory would storm to an early lead, only to lose it later on. But this time, before a crowd of 16,522, they would get it back and win 3-2.

In the fourth minute of play, Harry Kewell earned his first-ever goal for the Victory, on a penalty conversion. Carlos Hernandez doubled the advantage in the 23rd minute off a Jonas Salley handball.

However, Melbourne have been a team incapable of hanging on to advantages, and it wouldn't be long before they showed why.

Rodrigo Vargas was sent off in the 33rd minute for a rough challenge on Gol-Gol Mebrahtu. Mebrahtu won a penalty in the third minute of first-half stoppage time after being challenged by Diogo Ferreira. Gold Coast's Dylan MacAlister coverted the spot kick to make it 2-1 at the break.

In the second half, Gold Coast equalized thanks to Peter Jungschlager in the 47th minute of play. Hernandez took back the lead in the 79th minute thanks to an Archie Thompson cross.

Up next for Melbourne is a match with the Newcastle Jets at Ausgrid Stadium in Newcastle, NSW. Kickoff is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 3 at 7:45 p.m. AEST.

Mehmet Durakovic's Melbourne Victory were in desperate need of a win when they took on Perth Glory this past weekend at Etihad Stadium.

"You just want to win games of football," team captain Adrian Leijer told Stephen Rielly of the Australian.  "We haven't been conceding a lot of goals but going forward we haven't been scoring a lot, either.

"It's a balance. It's a team game and at the end of the day our fans want to see us scoring goals and I want to see us scoring goals. It's about getting maximum points."

Adding to the issues for Melbourne Victory was the health of Harry Kewell, who suffered tightness in his hamstring after the Socceroos lost 1-0 to Oman in FIFA World Cup Qualifying.

"Of course, it is a bit of a disappointment (if Kewell is unavailable) - fans love to see him play, he's an asset to the team," said midfielder Leigh Broxham to Roger Vaughan of the Sydney Morning Herald. "But he's only human, it's bound to happen every now and again throughout the year, as it does with everyone."

In the end, it was the same old story for Melbourne, who have been unable to hang on to leads and ended up settling for a 2-2 draw to the Glory.

Carlos Hernandez scored a penalty in the 53rd minute, which was a controversial one won by Archie Thompson, the true revelation of the Victory this year. Danny Allsopp made it 2-0 in the 58th minute but goals from the Glory in the last 20 minutes salvaged the draw for Ian Ferguson's side.

As a result of their efforts, the Victory were deservedly booed off the pitch, a microcosm of an appalling start to their Hyundai A-League campaign.

"It was disappointing," Durakovic told Michael Lynch of the Australian. "We were leading 2-0 and gave the ball away in the last 20 minutes. We give a goal from a free kick and suddenly you are under pressure. We need to get three points at home … we need to get as many points at home as we can."

Up next for Melbourne is a match with Gold Coast United at AAMI Park. Kickoff is scheduled for Nov. 27, 2011 at 5 p.m. AEST and will be televised by Fox Sports 1.

The Melbourne Victory's Harry Kewell was excused from Mehmet Durakovic's side to take part in a couple of FIFA World Cup Qualifiers with Oman and Thailand. (For the record, the Socceroos failed to secure qualification to the fourth round, playing their worst football of the campaign in the form of a 1-0 defeat in Muscat.)

Meanwhile, the Victory had their own local matters to attend to in the form of the Central Coast Mariners. A 1-1-3 record (six points) was not the start Melbourne was hoping for. Suspensions to Ante Covic and Matthew Foschini exacerbated matters for the visitors at the Bluetongue Stadium in Gosford.

"People are saying we've got them at a good time but it's still going to be a very, very big ask for us," the Mariners' Alex Wilkinson told Liam FitzGibbon of the Sydney Morning Herald.

"They've got a lot of players to come in, their depth is pretty frightening.

"They've got guys like Matthew Kemp, who was in Socceroos squads a couple of years ago, waiting in the wings to come in ... then there's Marco Rojas, Danny Allsopp, (Jean Carlos) Solorzano, who won a premiership with Brisbane last year.

"They lose a couple of quality players but bring in just as good players to replace them."

Coming into the match, the Mariners had a record of 2-1-2 (seven points), making this a mid-table clash for both sides.

"We've had enormous restrictions on our playing personnel, budget-wise," Mariners manager Graham Arnold told David Davutovic of the Melbourne Herald Sun. "We've got 21 players who are all well under the cap, but I've got no problems with that. Our strength is the culture of the team."

Central Coast nearly took the lead in the 29th minute, but Rodrigo Vargas was forced to clear, and the second rebound did not cross the end line. That was the only highlight in what was a scoreless first half.

The second half brought more of the same lack of production from both sides, and the end result was a scoreless draw.

Up next for Melbourne Victory is a match with Perth Glory at Etihad Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 20 at 5 p.m. AEST and will be televised by Fox Sports 1.