Melbourne Victory have responded to their defeat to Melbourne Heart by grabbing maximum points in a 3-1 win over Central Coast Mariners at AAMI Park.
Victory were dealt an early blow when Adama Traore was forced out of the side with a knee injury and replaced by Jason Geria in the starting lineup.
On the field, the Mariners started off the A-League game on the front foot and came close to finding an early goal when a corner kick came off the back of Zachary Anderson.
The ball bounced off the post and out of danger for Victory after goalkeeper Lawrence Thomas came off his line and got nowhere near the ball.
The away side continued to dominate play, but Victory were the first to strike through a counter-attack, when James Jeggo latched on to a cross into the box and fired the ball low across goal and into the back of the net.
After the break, Victory began to take control of the clash by dominating possession, but a mistake by goalkeeper Thomas allowed the Mariners back into the game.
Thomas came off his line when a corner came into the area and Anderson took full advantage of the open goal by taking two touches on the ball and sliding it into the net.
Victory got some luck of their own when the referee pointed to the penalty spot for a hand ball by Anderson in the box.
James Troisi managed to give the home side the lead when his spot-kick effort curled to the right side of goal, hit the crossbar and bounced into the back of the net.
Despite creating a few chances before the final whistle, the Mariners' hopes of getting back into the game were dashed when a late tap-in from Kosta Barbarouses wrapped up the match.
Danielle Joynson
