A 10-man Melbourne Heart FC has overcome cross town rivals Melbourne Victory to secure the first ever local derby at AAMI Park.
A 10-man Melbourne Heart FC has overcome cross town rivals Melbourne Victory to secure the first ever local derby at AAMI Park.
Goals from John Aloisi and Alex Terra were enough to cancel out Robbie Kruse-s first half effort and propel Heart to victory in front of a sell out crowd of 25,897.
Head Coach John van ‘t Schip was delighted with the result, saying he was positive that his possessed the self belief to bounce back and create history.
“We were confident, we trained well, we knew we had a bad game in Brisbane, that we could do a lot better, and I think especially in the first half, we were very good,” he said.
“There was a lot of good football built up from behind and ending up with crosses and short combinations in the final third. We started to struggle at the end with a man sent off, but for certain we deserved victory.”
Acting Captain Matt Thompson said he was thrilled to have clinched the three-points, relishing the opportunity to claim an inaugural derby win.
“We put in a massive performance and it makes it that little bit more special to beat the Victory in front of a massive crowd,” he said.
“We knew that we were disappointing last game and we-ve had two weeks to work on it. It-s just an unbelievable feeling mate and we can-t wait to head to training and start again.”
Heart made a bright start to the contest, with John Aloisi almost immediately finding the back of the net during an early foray into the side-s attacking half.
Buoyed by the electric atmosphere, Heart pressed forward as full backs Michael Marrone and Aziz Behich sought to expose Victory out wide.
And it was a ball from the flank which gave Heart the lead, Aloisi expertly heading a Alex Terra cross past Michael Petkovic in the Victory goal.
Aloisi almost made it 2-0 soon after, but his deft flick clattered into the post with Petkovic seemingly beaten.
Spurred into action, Victory soon found its rhythm, with Ricardinho nearly lobbing an effort past Clint Bolton before Robbie Kruse volleyed home a quickly taken Kevin Muscat free kick just before the break.
However, 10 minutes into second half, Heart regained the lead, as another stunning cross from Rutger Worm was struck first time past Petkovic by Alex Terra to send the home crowd into raptures.
While Geoff Kellaway had a chance to restore parity, Heart managed to hold on, despite the dismissal of Behich for a second bookable offence.
Melbourne Heart FC 2 (Aloisi 10-, Alex Terra 56-)
Melbourne Victory 1 (Kruse 37-)
AAMI Park, Melbourne
Crowd: 25,897
