Muscat hails Toivonen
Coach Kevin Muscat was full of praise for Swedish striker Ola Toivonen after Melbourne Victory's 2-1 win over Sydney FC at AAMI Park.
A first-half free-kick from Toivonen put Victory on their way and the forward helped set up their second goal after the break for James Troisi.
Toivonen has begun his Victory career with 10 goals in his first 13 games, helping the defending champions challenge Perth Glory for top spot. They are now second in the table, above Sydney FC, having lost just one of their last 14 matches.
Muscat's side have done well to close the gap on the Glory, bearing in mind they have been without injured marquee Keisuke Honda for the past month.
The coach said Toivonen had made an "outstanding" contribution even though he had been forced to cope with some physical treatment.
His curling free-kick gave Sky Blues keeper Andrew Redmayne no chance after Troisi had been fouled just outside the area.
"His quality really stood out again tonight," said Muscat of the former PSV Eindhoven star. "If (Lionel) Messi scores a free-kick like that this weekend the world would be raving about it."
Toivonen also had a hand in Victory's second goal, nine minutes after the break, his pass releasing Spanish midfielder Raul Baena whose cut-back was finished off by Troisi.
Muscat added: "I'll watch a lot of football this weekend, the majority of it international, and I don't think I'll see a bit of brilliance like that for (Toivonen) to bring that ball down like he did."
Victory's Carl Valeri said it had been important the team made a good start, as they knew Sydney FC would come out fighting.
"I think we showed a lot of character towards the end there, stuck together," he said. "I thought we gave away a few too many chances but we still held on and it shows our mentality of winning games."
Melbourne Victory are 9/4 to win the Grand Final and 4/7 to win their next game against Central Coast, who are 9/2 with the draw 3/1.
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Coach Kevin Muscat was full of praise for Swedish striker Ola Toivonen after Melbourne Victory's 2-1 win over Sydney FC at AAMI Park.
A first-half free-kick from Toivonen put Victory on their way and the forward helped set up their second goal after the break for James Troisi.
Toivonen has begun his Victory career with 10 goals in his first 13 games, helping the defending champions challenge Perth Glory for top spot. They are now second in the table, above Sydney FC, having lost just one of their last 14 matches.
Muscat's side have done well to close the gap on the Glory, bearing in mind they have been without injured marquee Keisuke Honda for the past month.
The coach said Toivonen had made an "outstanding" contribution even though he had been forced to cope with some physical treatment.
His curling free-kick gave Sky Blues keeper Andrew Redmayne no chance after Troisi had been fouled just outside the area.
"His quality really stood out again tonight," said Muscat of the former PSV Eindhoven star. "If (Lionel) Messi scores a free-kick like that this weekend the world would be raving about it."
Toivonen also had a hand in Victory's second goal, nine minutes after the break, his pass releasing Spanish midfielder Raul Baena whose cut-back was finished off by Troisi.
Muscat added: "I'll watch a lot of football this weekend, the majority of it international, and I don't think I'll see a bit of brilliance like that for (Toivonen) to bring that ball down like he did."
Victory's Carl Valeri said it had been important the team made a good start, as they knew Sydney FC would come out fighting.
"I think we showed a lot of character towards the end there, stuck together," he said. "I thought we gave away a few too many chances but we still held on and it shows our mentality of winning games."
Melbourne Victory are 9/4 to win the Grand Final and 4/7 to win their next game against Central Coast, who are 9/2 with the draw 3/1.
Source: bet365.com
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