Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Coach Giovanni Savarese believes Melbourne Victory’s Asian Champions League 2 (ACL2) win over South Korean champions-elect FC Seoul came at the perfect time to help them bounce back from their dispiriting Australia Cup loss to South Melbourne.
Taking the field at AAMI Park on Wednesday night still reeling from their loss to Hellas four days prior, Victory broke the deadlock through new signing Guillermo May soon after the hour mark, then eased to a 3-0 win thanks to goals from Santos and Jordi Valadon.
“It’s good; this game came at the right time,” Savarese said.
“Because coming out from the game [last] weekend, we needed a game like this in order to be able to move forward.”
The win ensures Savarese’s side will take momentum into their opening A-League Men fixture away to Wellington on Sunday, as well as keeping them undefeated on the continent after previously drawing 1-1 with Vietnamese side The Cong?Viettel.
“Four days ago was very disappointing, and still hurts a lot,” Denis Genreau said.
“But we really bounced back tonight, and now we need to build from that.”
Potentially able to claim the K1 League title against Gimcheon Sangmu on Sunday and unable to find a direct flight for the trip to Melbourne, Seoul coach Kim Gi-Dong deployed a heavily rotated side for the fixture.
First-choice keeper Gu Sung-Yun, 74-time international Kim Jin-Su and leading scorer Patryk Klimala were among those left at home.
And this absence of top-end talent repeatedly haunted the visitors, as players including Lee Han-Do, Ahn Jae-Min, and Leonardo Ruiz spurned gilt-edged chances over the course of the 90 minutes.
“When we have a chance, we have to put the ball into the net,” Seoul boss Kim reflected.
“Otherwise, we learned the lesson that we’re going to be punished.”
Fielding close to its strongest XI, Victory gradually built control of possession, territory and the shot count as the game went on, but didn’t click properly into gear until May’s breakthrough.
Making his first start since joining from A-League Men champions Auckland FC in the off-season, May got things going when he turned home a deflected Genreau shot in the 63rd minute, before Genreau set Santos up for the second 10 minutes later.
In his first start of the campaign after battling a virus in pre-season, Genreau capped his standout performance by assisting Valadon’s 84th-minute sealer.
