-
Melbourne's Archie Thompson celebrates - Source: Getty -
Related
Melbourne Victory's attack enjoyed a night out at the expense of a depleted Gold Coast defence, handing out a 4-0 A-League thrashing at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.
Marquee striker Archie Thompson scored twice as the Victory locked in top spot and reversed the result of their previous home match, a 4-0 belting from Central Coast.
Thompson's double came after he scored the lone goal in Melbourne's away win over Brisbane last round, furthering his claims for a Socceroos call-up for the Asian Cup qualifier against Kuwait in January.
The visitors fielded a second-string defence, missing Sebastian Van Den Brink and Kristian Rees to suspension and numerous others, including first-choice keeper Jess Van Strattan, to injury.
Their replacements were under constant siege and never looked capable of holding a Victory attack that combined beautifully and produced plenty of highlights.
The 2-0 halftime margin could easily have been bigger, Melbourne having several near misses, while `keeper Scott Higgins produced two good saves, but the two goals were gems.
Robbie Kruse opened the scoring in the 28th minute, with a well-timed 25m shot, which took a slight upward deflection from a defender's leg, making next to impossible to stop for Higgins.
Nick Ward made it 2-0 just before halftime, working well with Thompson to find space, then firing a perfectly placed shot from similar range to Kruse, the ball deflecting in off the left post.
While a Gold Coast comeback never looked likely, given Melbourne's domination, any faint hopes were snuffed out five minutes into the second half, with Ward turning provider for Thompson, the striker running onto a well-timed pass for a straightforward close-range finish.
The understanding between Melbourne's attacking group was even better illustrated with Thompson's second, 14 minutes later - a series of crisp passes around the penalty area ending with Kruse delivering to Thompson, who sent a curling shot inside the right post.
Gold Coast's sad night was further soured as their already bare bones side was hit by two more injuries - Steven Fitzsimmons going off midway through the first half after hurting his hand, while a leg injury sidelined striker Joel Porter early in the second.
Victory's Grant Brebner was stretchered off late in the first half with what appeared to be a serious ankle injury.
Victory coach Ernie Merrick said the win came at a cost, with Brebner suspected of breaking his ankle, while Matthew Kemp strained a groin and Evan Berger tore a hamstring.
But he rated the performance as complete as any his side had produced all season.
"We've suffered two pretty bad defeats at home and we wanted to atone for that ... we kept a clean sheet, we attacked well, it was good to see the combinations working so well up front," Merrick said.
Gold Coast coach Miron Bleiberg said his side was simply outclassed and would have needed a "miracle" to upset Melbourne with the players they had out.
"When you say miracle, it's more likely that the predictable will happen and that's what happened," he said.
"To tell you that I'm surprised, I'm not, I would have liked it to be maybe 1-0 or 2-0, but I didn't bank on this game that we'd get anything out of it."
