Victory win drama-filled Big Blue

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Battle ... Melbourne Victory's Archie Thompson (R) takes on Thyan Grant. Source:AAP

They may have come to see Alessandro Del Piero, but they left talking about Marco Rojas as Melbourne Victory put the rest of the A-League on notice with a 3-1 mauling of Sydney FC on Saturday evening.

The Victory bossed and battered a Sky Blues team which finished the match with nine men in a compelling display at a sold-out AAMI Park.

Second-half efforts from Archie Thompson and Rojas, following a 24th-minute deflected own goal from Sydney defender Seb Ryall, capped a dominant performance from the hosts.

		P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
1	Central Coast	18	11	5	2	17	38
2	Victory	18	10	3	5	3	33
3	Western Sydney	18	10	2	6	8	32
4	Adelaide	18	10	2	6	4	32
5	Heart	18	6	3	9	-2	21
6	Newcastle	17	6	3	8	-8	21
7	Brisbane	18	6	2	10	-1	20
8	Sydney	18	6	2	10	-9	20
9	Perth	18	5	4	9	-1	19
10	Wellington	17	4	4	9	-11	16

Not helped by Tiago Calvano's sending off on the hour for flinging an outstretched arm to block Leigh Broxham, the Sky Blues were mainly undone by a committed Victory midfield display with Broxham, Billy Celeski and Mark Milligan outstanding.

But the silk came from Rojas, who would have impressed scouts from English Premier League club Liverpool and Italian giants Juventus in attendance with a magnificent display in the front third.

He scored a beautifully crafted goal in the 72nd minute - that was aided by heavy deflections off Sydney FC defenders - and was the architect of the opener.

The 21-year-old New Zealand international intercepted a Rhyan Grant backpass and his goal-bound effort cannoned off Ryall, wrong-footing keeper Vedran Janjetovic.

Del Piero was well held for most of the evening as Victory's midfield invaded his aura and bit around his ankles effectively.

The first half hour was all Victory.

The Victory had the majority of the best chances - coming closest to a second when Broxham forced a great diving save from Janjetovic on 28 minutes.

Sydney FC also lost Socceroo Brett Emerton midway through the half with a hamstring injury.

Once Calvano was sent off, all Sydney's hope looked gone - though their best chances and only goal came when they were down to 10 men.

They could have even equalised had Joel Griffiths not fluffed a great chance - from a Del Piero through ball - in the 66th minute as he shot across goal when it beckoned.

Thirty seconds later, the Victory were 2-0 up as Thompson found the net.

It was party time in the 72nd minute as Rojas scored a classy second, holding off a defender, turning and shooting off Adam Griffiths to make it 3-0.

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Joel Griffiths grabbed a consolation on 75 minutes, but Sydney's night turned even worse when fullback Fabio was marched in stoppage time for a second yellow card.

Victory coach Ange Postecoglou believed the performance was close to his side's most complete of the season.

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''We're trying to become a dominant force in this league and days like today, you question whether we're up to it or not but I was really pleased,'' Postecoglou said.

''We really took the game to the opposition which is what I wanted us to do.''

Sydney FC coach Frank Farina was left shaking his head with the fact nine cards were issued by referee Chris Beath in a match he felt wasn't dirty.

But he admitted his disappointment was split ''60-40'' between the officiating and his players' ill-discipline at vital times.

''We should have been playing the way we played and worked the last 25 minutes from the start,'' Farina said.

''We could do that and create chances with 10 men ... we should do that from the beginning.''

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Re-live the drama, including highlights of both reds and all four goals, in our A-League Match Centre.

 

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