For the first time in his A-League career Jets striker Andrew Nabbout struck against his former club, not once but twice as the Jets soared with a 4 – 1 demolition of Melbourne Victory.
The match was only five minutes old when Kosta Barbarouses fired Victory into the lead. It came after a diagonal ball from James Troisi that the Kiwi winger latched onto, hitting a stinging first time volley which sailed over Jets keeper, Glen Moss.
But, from there the half only belonged to one side – the Jets. The equaliser came eight minutes later as Dimi Petratos found space down the right edge of the box, and back-heeled to Georgievski who hit a sweet strike which picked out the top left corner.
Petratos continued to wreak havoc in the number ten role, while Andrew Nabbout, and Ivan Vujica went close to locking up the contest with fantastic opportunities.
However, the match took a turn in the 28th minute after a Daniel Georgievski yellow card, for a foul on Mark Milligan. The Victory midfielder retaliated to the challenge, a melee soon erupted and the Socceroo was ultimately given a straight red card.
Andrew Nabbout made the ten-man Victory pay, after Jason Hoffman broke free down the right and put his cross on a dime for the former Victory man who tapped home the go-ahead goal.
The Jets could have been out by more at the break if it wasn’t for the brilliance of Victory keeper Lawrence Thomas, who made a wonderful late save to deny a thunderous Petratos strike from outside the box which seared towards the bottom left corner.
After taking their 2-1 lead into the break, the home side began in a more subdued manner in the second half.
The early period of the second half was tight, with both sides creating half chances. Victory striker Leroy George went close with a header, while Petratos probed in the front third for Newcastle.
That was until the 75th minute, when the Jets sprung to life again. A quick throw caught Victory off-guard and Joe Champness went one-on-one with Thomas – cooly slotting the Jets’ third.
The cherry on top came eight minutes later as Petratos – who had rattled the crossbar with a thunderbolt minutes earlier – teed up Nabbout for his second with a pinpoint cross to the back post.
The Jets recording their first win over Victory in more than two years as they returned to the top of the table – momentarily at least – with a resounding 4 – 1 victory.
From the coach:
“It was a good reaction [to last weekend] and we’d talked about it all week. The team talk wasn’t about strategy it was about how we were going to be committed to being fully intent on starting at pace and finishing at pace and competing for everything.”
“Andrew Nabbout is a good all round player up front, the service he was getting from Dimi was first class, and Joe Champness just seems to pop up whenever and score a goal.”
The moments:
4’ | 0 – 1 | Barbarouses gets the Victory off and running with a first time strike from outside the penalty area #NEWvMVC
13’ | 1 – 1 | GOAL! Georgievski! #NEWvMVC
13’ | 1 – 1 | What. A. Goal. Georgievski takes the ball inside the 18-yard box thanks to a Petratos backheel, as he buries his strike into the top left corner against his former club #NEWvMVC
15’ | 1 – 1 | Ivan Vujica with an absolute rocket, as the defender went from long range – Thomas at full stretch to stop that one! #NEWvMVC
24’ | 1 – 1 | CHANCE! A low ball in from Georgievski, as Nabbout JUST misses the chance to find goal #NEWvMVC
27’ | 1 – 1 | Georgievski sees yellow for a tough challenge as a melee ensues #NEWvMVC
27’ | 1 – 1 | SEND OFF! Milligan is given his marching orders as the dust settles here at @MJStadium #NEWvMVC
36’ | 2 – 1 | GOAL! Nabbout! #NEWvMVC
36’ | 2 – 1 | A beautiful run down the right edge from Georgievski, as Hoffman knocks in a low cross – Nabbout makes no mistake with the finish! #NEWvMVC
74’ | 2 – 1 | GOAL! Champness! #NEWvMVC
74’ | 3 – 1 | A quick throw catches the Victory off guard and Champness slots past Thomas with a clinical finish #NEWvMVC
78’ | 3 – 1 | Dimi Petratos with a looong bomb that cannons into the crossbar, what a strike! #NEWvMVC
82’ | 4 – 1 | GOAL! Nabbout again! How good is this!? #NEWvMVC
82’ | 4 – 1 | Petratos picks his man at the back post and Nabbout positioned himself perfectly for a simple tap in #NEWvMVC
Newcastle Jets: 3.Jason HOFFMAN, 4.Nigel BOOGAARD, 5.Ben KANTAROVSKI, 6.Steven UGARKOVIC, 7.Dimitri PETRATOS, 13.Ivan VUJICA, 15.Andrew NABBOUT, 17.Daniel GEORGIEVSKI, 20.Glenn MOSS, 24.Joe CHAMPNESS, 44.Nikolai TOPOR-STANLEY
Subs: 10.Wayne BROWN, 12.Mario SHABOW, 16.Nick COWBURN, 19.Kosta PETRATOS, 30.Ivan NECEVSKI (gk)
Subs Not Used: 10.Wayne BROWN, 30.Ivan NECEVSKI (gk)
Yellow Cards: Daniel GEORGIEVSKI (28’), Mario SHABOW (66’)
Red Cards: N/A
Goals: Daniel GEORGIEVSKI 13’, Andrew NABBOUT (37’ & 82’), Joe CHAMPNESS (75’)
Melbourne Victory: 2.Jason GERIA, 4.Rhys WILLIAMS, 5.Mark MILLIGAN, 6.Leigh BROXHAM, 8.Besart BERISHA, 9.Kosta BARBAROUSES, 10.James TROISI, 14.Thomas DENG, 20.Lawrence THOMAS (gk), 21.Carl VALERI (c), 41.Leroy GEORGE
Subs: 1.Matt ACTON (gk), 18. Matias SANCHEZ, 22.Stefan NIGRO, 23.Jai INGHAM, 31.Christian THEOHAROUS
Subs Not Used: 1.Matt ACTON (gk), 31.Christian THEOHAROUS
Yellow Cards: Matais SANCHEZ (31’), James TROISI (68’)
Red Cards: Mark MILLIGAN (28’)
Goals: Kosta BARBAROUSES (5’)
