Kill or be killed.
That’s the message from Melbourne Victory coach Arthur Diles to his charges ahead of a cut-throat A-League Men elimination final against Western Sydney.
Victory were already locked into fifth place and a trip to Western Sydney for Saturday night’s elimination final (7.35pm AEST) before their frustrating 1-1 draw with Newcastle last Sunday.
The fourth-placed Wanderers, unbeaten in 12, came from 2-0 down to beat Victory 4-2 at home in March while they played out a 2-2 draw at AAMI Park in January.
“Those games now are insignificant, because now it’s a final and it’s sudden-death, kill or be killed, no second chances,” Diles said.
“Now it’s a finals game away from home. They’re one of the in-form teams in the comp.
“But we’ve both earned the right to play in this match, and we’re going to do everything we can next week to be ready to go there and get the job done.
“It’s a different game, different intensity.”
Meanwhile Western Sydney will enter their home elimination final in fine form after pulling off a 3-1 comeback win over local rivals Macarthur.
Anthony Pantazopoulos’s 55th-minute goal put the Wanderers ahead before substitute Marcus Antonsson sealed the deal in the 73rd minute in front of a record 9213-strong crowd at Campbelltown Stadium last Saturday.
Western Sydney (46 points) will host Melbourne Victory in an elimination final next week after sealing a fourth-placed finish, just one point behind third-place Western United.
It is a remarkable turnaround for the Wanderers, who were sitting eighth at the half-way point of their first season under Alen Stajcic.
“The hardest thing is getting the ship out of the bottom of the ocean and getting it to float,” Stajcic said.
“We’ve got to that point where we’ve created a really good foundation and a really good culture, but it’s not a thing where you can just think you’ve done it, tick the box and move on.
“You’ve got to keep evolving and growing.”
On Friday (result not kown at time of writing) Western United hosted the other elimination final after ending premiers Auckland FC’s 14-game undefeated streak with a 4-2 win to finish third.
But the result was not enough for Western to realise their Asian Champions League Elite aspirations after Melbourne City defeated Sydney FC 5-1 to seal second place in the final regular-season round.
John Aloisi’s side at least sealed third and a home final against Adelaide United.
Adelaide were coming off a bye and will be happy with City’s win over the Sky Blues because had Sydney won, it would be them playing finals instead of the Reds.
With AAP
