Socceroos midfielder Ryan Teague starred on return from injury to help Melbourne Victory seal an A-League Men finals berth and end Macarthur FC’s hopes with a 2-1 win.
With Socceroos coach Tony Popovic in the stands at Campbelltown Stadium, Teague hit the scoreboard with his fourth-minute opener before Kasey Bos added another in the 36th minute on Friday night.
Teague had missed last round’s 2-0 loss to leaders Auckland FC through injury, when Victory clearly missed his presence.
Macarthur came to life when Chris Ikonomidis pulled one back in the 68th minute against his former side after Victory’s Jordi Valadon gave up possession.
But goalkeeper Jack Duncan, earning a recall following a foot injury to Mitch Langerak, proved his mettle to keep Macarthur at bay as heavy rain hampered movement in the second half.
Victory’s win on Anzac Day seals a finals spot with a game to spare, with Arthur Diles’s men sitting third on 42 points ahead of the weekend’s matches.
Auckland lead on 50 points, followed by fellow top six teams Melbourne City (44), Western United (41) and Western Sydney (40) and Sydney (37).
Macarthur’s finals hopes are over, on 33 points behind seventh-placed Adelaide (37) heading into the final home-and-away round.
Adelaide have a bye next weekend, while Victory return home to play Newcastle at AAMI Park and Macarthur host Western Sydney.
Emerging Socceroos star Nishan Velupillay sparked Victory’s opener with a dashing run down the left wing and a cutback to Zinedine Machach in the box.
Machach bamboozled the Bulls defenders by swivelling around to set up Teague just outside the box, his teammate easily nailing the shot with little challenge from goalkeeper Filip Kurto.
Daniel Arzani, looking to impress Popovic ahead of World Cup qualifiers against Japan and Saudi Arabia, was also busy for Victory on the right wing and proved a nuisance, especially to Macarthur captain Luke Brattan.
Arzani flashed his quality with an incisive shot from the wing in the 50th minute, denied only by the far post.
Victory shot-stopper Duncan almost gifted a goal in the 20th minute after sending the ball straight to opposition defender Kevin Boli.
Machach tried to intervene but Boli was quick enough to get the ball moving and help set up Jake Hollman.
Luckily for Duncan, Hollman sent his shot wide.
Duncan had started the first 13 matches of the season before former Socceroos goalkeeper Langerak returned to Victory during the January transfer window after 14 years abroad.
He was shown a yellow card in added time for time wasting.
https://thewest.com.au/sport/soccer/teague-fires-victory-to-alm-finals-in-win-over-bulls-c-18487150
