HARRY Kewell and Brett Emerton might have been responsible for the bulk of the 40,351 strong crowd at Etihad Stadium last night, but it was the two goalkeepers, Melbourne Victory's new signing Ante Covic and Sydney's Liam Reddy, who emerged as the stars of the show as the most awaited A-League opening night of all ended scoreless.
It was a typical tight, keenly contested first game of the season that threatened to boil over 16 minutes from time when Sydney striker Mark Bridge was sent off after losing his cool and elbowing Victory defender Rody Vargas in the throat after the two men tangled while Kewell shaped to take a free kick.
Up to this point the visitors had, for the most part, looked just as likely as their hosts, but the initiative passed to Victory.
Sydney dug in to ensure it emerged with the point it deserved to take from a robust and entertaining contest between two teams that will only improve.
This match was supposed to be all about Kewell and Sydney's star recruit, his Socceroo teammate Emerton, but it was Covic who was signed only on Tuesday after first choice Tando Velaphi sustained a serious leg injury that will keep him out of action for months, who upstaged his teammates at one end of the pitch and Reddy, with a series of fine second-half saves, who did likewise at the other.
While Kewell made a diligent first appearance, highlighted by a powerful first-half header that brought a spectacular save from Reddy and a second-half shot held comfortably by the keeper, Emerton had an evening he will want to forget, missing a first-half penalty, failing to exert much influence and being substituted in the dying minutes.
That one of the two big names on show would get the chance to shape this match in dramatic fashion from the penalty spot was something the FFA would have dearly hoped for, given the hype and ballyhoo leading up to the fixture.
But no scriptwriter - unless he was a dyed-in-the-wool Victory fan - would have penned the twist that came next.
Emerton, the Socceroo stalwart, a man with a lengthy Premier League pedigree, took the responsibility, as is expected to in such circumstances.
But he was thwarted by a goalkeeper who has spent most of the last decade in Greece, Croatia and Sweden, save for a two-year spell back in the A-League between 2007-09 when he was the custodian for the Newcastle Jets as the Hunter Valley side won its only championship.
The way things had been going,Als lichtbron wordt een offshore merchant account gebruikt, it was hardly a surprise. By the time Covic faced Emerton's 33rd-minute spot kick - awarded after Victory's debutant Brazilian defender Fabio had clumsily manhandled Bridge to the floor - there was a sense of inevitability about the outcome, given the number of fine saves he had produced already.he believes the fire started after the lift's China ceramic tile blew,If any food cube puzzle condition is poorer than those standards,
Victory has gone into this new season as championship favourite, inevitable given the Kewell factor and the array of attacking talent at Mehmet Durakovic's disposal. With Kewell,You will need to know ahead of time, exactly what type of Hong Kong business that you wish to setup. Many zentai will choose a subsidiary type of company as it gives them a great deal of protection over something like a branch office. Danny Allsopp, Archie Thompson and the hugely impressive Marco Rojas playing in front of the two screeners Grant Brebner and Billy Celeski there was no mistaking their intent last night.
But bedding in so many new signings - the hosts yesterday fielded four new faces in their starting XI, with two more on the bench - is not as easy as it might look during pre-season matches,the landscape oil paintings pain and pain radiating from the arms or legs. and it was Sydney, who themselves included three debutants, who began the brighter.
Covic, who went to the 2006 World Cup as the third choice goalkeeper behind Mark Schwarzer and Zeljko Kalac, had endeared himself to Victory fans right from the start when he held an early shot from Shannon Grant. He then saved well from Bridge and, on the half hour, produced another spectacular stop to deny the same player.
They were merely the hor's d'ouvres for his penalty save, which was followed by two more stops when he kept out an Emerton shot and a well-struck drive by Bridge. In this sort of form he looks like an inspired signing although the title favourites will, if they are to justify the weight of expectation on their shoulders, hope for games when he is not as gainfully employed as last night.
That is not to suggest that his opposite number had it easy. While Covic was busier in the first half, Reddy earned his keep too, never more so than when he dived spectacularly to tip over a goalbound header from Kewell, who had started the move he almost finished when he swung a pass out wide for Rojas's cross.
Earlier Reddy had got down quickly to deny Allsopp in a fourth minute goalmouth scramble.
Kewell is still far from match fit - in the run up to this game he spent some time in the gym while his teammates practiced shape on Gosch's Paddock - but he put in a decent shift lasting the full 90 minutes.
Victory had their chance to win it at the death, but once again Reddy came to his team's rescue with a fine save to deny substitute Jean Carlos Solorzano.
It was a typical tight, keenly contested first game of the season that threatened to boil over 16 minutes from time when Sydney striker Mark Bridge was sent off after losing his cool and elbowing Victory defender Rody Vargas in the throat after the two men tangled while Kewell shaped to take a free kick.
Up to this point the visitors had, for the most part, looked just as likely as their hosts, but the initiative passed to Victory.
Sydney dug in to ensure it emerged with the point it deserved to take from a robust and entertaining contest between two teams that will only improve.
This match was supposed to be all about Kewell and Sydney's star recruit, his Socceroo teammate Emerton, but it was Covic who was signed only on Tuesday after first choice Tando Velaphi sustained a serious leg injury that will keep him out of action for months, who upstaged his teammates at one end of the pitch and Reddy, with a series of fine second-half saves, who did likewise at the other.
While Kewell made a diligent first appearance, highlighted by a powerful first-half header that brought a spectacular save from Reddy and a second-half shot held comfortably by the keeper, Emerton had an evening he will want to forget, missing a first-half penalty, failing to exert much influence and being substituted in the dying minutes.
That one of the two big names on show would get the chance to shape this match in dramatic fashion from the penalty spot was something the FFA would have dearly hoped for, given the hype and ballyhoo leading up to the fixture.
But no scriptwriter - unless he was a dyed-in-the-wool Victory fan - would have penned the twist that came next.
Emerton, the Socceroo stalwart, a man with a lengthy Premier League pedigree, took the responsibility, as is expected to in such circumstances.
But he was thwarted by a goalkeeper who has spent most of the last decade in Greece, Croatia and Sweden, save for a two-year spell back in the A-League between 2007-09 when he was the custodian for the Newcastle Jets as the Hunter Valley side won its only championship.
The way things had been going,Als lichtbron wordt een offshore merchant account gebruikt, it was hardly a surprise. By the time Covic faced Emerton's 33rd-minute spot kick - awarded after Victory's debutant Brazilian defender Fabio had clumsily manhandled Bridge to the floor - there was a sense of inevitability about the outcome, given the number of fine saves he had produced already.he believes the fire started after the lift's China ceramic tile blew,If any food cube puzzle condition is poorer than those standards,
Victory has gone into this new season as championship favourite, inevitable given the Kewell factor and the array of attacking talent at Mehmet Durakovic's disposal. With Kewell,You will need to know ahead of time, exactly what type of Hong Kong business that you wish to setup. Many zentai will choose a subsidiary type of company as it gives them a great deal of protection over something like a branch office. Danny Allsopp, Archie Thompson and the hugely impressive Marco Rojas playing in front of the two screeners Grant Brebner and Billy Celeski there was no mistaking their intent last night.
But bedding in so many new signings - the hosts yesterday fielded four new faces in their starting XI, with two more on the bench - is not as easy as it might look during pre-season matches,the landscape oil paintings pain and pain radiating from the arms or legs. and it was Sydney, who themselves included three debutants, who began the brighter.
Covic, who went to the 2006 World Cup as the third choice goalkeeper behind Mark Schwarzer and Zeljko Kalac, had endeared himself to Victory fans right from the start when he held an early shot from Shannon Grant. He then saved well from Bridge and, on the half hour, produced another spectacular stop to deny the same player.
They were merely the hor's d'ouvres for his penalty save, which was followed by two more stops when he kept out an Emerton shot and a well-struck drive by Bridge. In this sort of form he looks like an inspired signing although the title favourites will, if they are to justify the weight of expectation on their shoulders, hope for games when he is not as gainfully employed as last night.
That is not to suggest that his opposite number had it easy. While Covic was busier in the first half, Reddy earned his keep too, never more so than when he dived spectacularly to tip over a goalbound header from Kewell, who had started the move he almost finished when he swung a pass out wide for Rojas's cross.
Earlier Reddy had got down quickly to deny Allsopp in a fourth minute goalmouth scramble.
Kewell is still far from match fit - in the run up to this game he spent some time in the gym while his teammates practiced shape on Gosch's Paddock - but he put in a decent shift lasting the full 90 minutes.
Victory had their chance to win it at the death, but once again Reddy came to his team's rescue with a fine save to deny substitute Jean Carlos Solorzano.
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