A Danny Allsopp brace all but booked Melbourne Victory’s spot in the finals as the home side defeated Gold Coast United 2-0 at AAMI Park.
In a preview of a likely-first week final, Melbourne dominated the play and thanks to Allsopp’s well-taken goals either side of half-time have moved within touching distance of a confirmed spot in the finals.
Allsopp, who only re-joined the club at the start of January, is now the form striker in the league, having managed five goals in his past four matches.
With Archie Thompson and Robbie Kruse set to come back into the side in the next two weeks, Victory will have their best attacking line-up available for the finals.
As temperatures neared 40 degrees Celsius in Melbourne on Sunday, Allsopp scored a cracking goal on 28 minutes from over 25 yards out and then showed his versatility by turning John Curtis in the box and firing accurately 11 minutes into the second half.
The veteran striker could have had his first-ever A-League hat-trick, spurning several chances, but it mattered little as Melbourne made it two wins in a row.
Elsewhere, a first-half goal from Dylan Macallister was enough to give Wellington Phoenix a vital 1-0 win over 10-man Newcastle Jets in Wellington.
Macallister’s goal in the 20th minute secured a club record fifth straight victory at home for Wellington but more importantly the three points lifted the Phoenix to sixth (35 points) on the table and in the process dented Newcastle’s hopes of reaching the play-offs as they stayed in eight spot with 31 points.
The Jets were not helped by the red card shown to Ryan Griffiths in the 66th minute for abusing referee Chris Beath, who also booked captain Nikolai Topor-Stanley in the first half.
But the Phoenix did not escape either with Andrew Durante, Troy Hearfield, Vince Lia, Ben Sigmund and Manny Muscat all shown yellow cards by the referee.
Sigmund’s yellow was his eighth of the season meaning he will miss the next two crucial away matches against Adelaide and Sydney.
Sun 30 January, 2011
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