There is a slogan, 'one nuclear accident could ruin your whole day.' It feels a bit like that today.
The Roar scored Ben Williams as ref for the 3rd time in 6 games. Muscat, who surely must be on the FAA's 'Tiatto Player Rule' watch list, got away with shoving his wrist caste into Reinaldo's face. But must infuriating of all Leandro Love was rewarded for a dive in the penalty area just after Vargas cleared off the line a Craig Moore strike. Later, the Roar's run of 48 A-League games with only one penalty was continued by Williams despite Reinaldo being dragged down inside the box. By mid game, the Victory were making a game of trying to goad Tiatto into a second yellow card.
In the first half, Victory defence were everywhere closing down the Roar strikers. With only 8 teams, the A-League has learned to sacrifice entertainment for against run of play goals. Funnily enough, some former Roar fans made this point about their expectations for Frank Farina. He has boldly proved them wrong.
There were flashes of brilliance from the Melbourne defence, and both goal opportunities were constructed by Archie Thompson. Apart from Reinaldo's feistiness, the highlight for the Roar was Michael Zullo's 71 minute substitution for Simon Lynch. Zullo nearly pulled one back for the Roar with a magnificent header into the inside base of the post. Expect Mitch Nichols to be given the nod next week against Wellington, probably at the expense of Ante Milicic. The Roar defence is still a problem and they are missing Andrew Packer.
Now the pressure is on the Roar is like a pea stuck in a straw caught under a waterfall.
4 comments:
It was Ground Hog Day wasn't it? The script is getting very tired.
I agree with most of what you say but to be fair both sides played rough and cynically in defence.
As entertainment, the game was shit. Bring on the WWC Final.
It was indeed a scrappy game. Funnily enough, we were lamenting quite a few of the ref's decisions as well - except we thought he was on the Roar's payroll! Except for that penalty of course, and I can't agree with the dive claim there.
In the end, both teams played a pretty similar game I felt, lots of wayward passes and very few opportunities created - Melbourne was just fortunate enough to finish things off slightly better.
Either way, I'm rapt to finally get a win ;)
I think if I was a neutral in this game I would have also seen what you and Hamish claim to have witnessed.
I don't think much of Williams as a ref - he seems to take the "you naughty naughty boy" approach rather than setting the record straight and having the balls to show players the cards they deserve.
Tiatto and Ognenovski should have both been carded in the first half, and this may have also applied to Melbourne players. But... I didn't see nothing. :P
Head up though, I still want Qld to finish top 4! Just not at Melbourne's expense!
I have to agree with all the comments about the refereeing. It was very poor and had an effect on both teams. We only seem to have one decent referee in the league and that's Mark Shield. Tiatto seems to be his own worst enemy at times - when he concentrates on playing football he is fantastic, but too often tries to impose himself on the game physically. He was very lucky not to see out the game in the stands. Unfortunately, I think it may be a long season for the Roar fans.
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