A-League snapshot
SNAPSHOT OF ROUND 19 IN THE A-LEAGUE
THEY SAID IT: "Given the circumstances we found ourselves in after last week's incidents involving a section of Western Sydney Wanderers supporters at Etihad Stadium, it's staggering that some Victory fans chose to act in this way." - An angry FFA boss David Gallop on more flare use during the Melbourne derby.
STAT THAT MATTERS: Western Sydney have never conceded as many goals as they did in Sunday's listless 5-2 home loss to Wellington. Foundation coach Tony Popovic described the performance as his team's worst this season.
PLAYER OF THE ROUND: Take a bow Blake Powell. The 24-year-old Phoenix forward put on a four-star show against the Wanderers, becoming just the fifth player to score four goals or more in a single A-League match. Only Alessandro Del Piero, Besart Berisha, Archie Thompson and Shane Smeltz have accomplished the feat. But it wasn't just the quantity, but the quality of Powell's finishes, which included a diving header, left-foot strike and sublime right-foot curler that flew across the face of goal and tucked inside the back post.
CONTROVERSY CORNER: Referee Chris Beath's ghastly miss of Gui Finkler's free kick crossing the line wasn't the only reason why both Melbourne coaches Kevin Muscat and John van `t Schip were fuming post-match. The veteran official was flashing more yellow than a broken traffic light, but it was his blatant miss of Finkler's goal that had Muscat in utter shock as they were forced to share the points. "Regardless of whether it was in or not, I'm staggered to comprehend at that moment where he's looking," Muscat said.
UNDER PRESSURE: Graham Arnold insists he's not feeling it, but the Sydney FC coach surely hasn't been sleeping well. Arnold admits his side's recent slump has been the toughest period of his A-League coaching career. Sydney were decidedly flat in Saturday's 2-1 loss to a gritty Perth, and face the very real possibility of falling out of finals contention. The next few weeks will be both the most important and the most difficult of the season, with three heavyweight A-League matches sandwiched by two Asian Champions League (ACL) fixtures in 15 days.
SELECTION HEADACHE: Neither the insertion of new recruit David Carney nor the return of skipper Alex Brosque could stop Sydney FC from slumping to their fourth-straight week without a win, going down to Perth 2-1 and leaving sorry coach Graham Arnold threatening to wield the axe ahead of their upcoming Sydney derby. Tony Popovic is also facing an uphill battle filling Western Sydney's central defence for the mouthwatering clash, with Spaniard Alberto still suspended and his replacement Jonathan Aspropotamitis copping a straight red card late in the Phoenix loss.
