Melbourne Victory showcased their strength against the two-time defending Isuzu UTE A-League champions, Central Coast Mariners, clinching a 3-0 victory on Saturday night.
Goals in the first half from Subway Socceroos duo Nishan Velupillay and Bruno Fornaroli, followed by a stunning long-range effort from Zinedine Machach, propelled Victory in this Grand Final rematch at AAMI Park after a string of two consecutive draws.
Following Velupillay and Fornaroli’s contributions that put Victory in a dominant position, Machach came off the bench to seal the deal with a spectacular goal in stoppage time in Melbourne.
This result keeps Victory within two points of second-placed Western United and seven points adrift of leaders Auckland FC after 22 rounds. Meanwhile, the Mariners sit in 10th place, lagging ten points behind the top six, enduring a winless streak that has now extended to seven matches.
A notable spectator at AAMI Park was Socceroo and former A-Leagues player Jordy Bos, who now plies his trade at Westerlo in Belgium’s top league, as he watched on proudly while supporting his brother Kasey, who plays for Victory.
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On the pitch, the home side took the lead within the first nine minutes when Velupillay capitalised on a mistake from Mariners’ 17-year-old rising star, Haine Eames.
This marked Velupillay’s fourth goal of the season.
Fornaroli came close to extending the lead with an acrobatic attempt just past the half-hour mark, but the Victory star found the back of the net four minutes before half-time.
The Socceroo evaded the offside trap, skilfully controlled the ball, and left Central Coast’s defenders bewildered before slotting it past Dylan Peraic-Cullen for his fourth goal of the season, and his first since January 24.
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Alex Badolato made his Victory debut in the second half after being named MVP of the 2025 AFC Under-20 Asian Cup, where the Subway Young Socceroos triumphed last week.
On loan from Western Sydney Wanderers, Badolato nearly provided an assist on his first outing, threading a ball to fellow substitute Santos, but the Brazilian was thwarted by Peraic-Cullen.
Machach rounded off the scoring deep into stoppage time with a powerful strike from distance.
Compiled by SportArena.com.au.
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