Happy days ... Archie Thompson leads the Melbourne Victory celebrations. Source: AAP
Melbourne Victory's Archie Thompson described Saturday night's gutsy win at Western Sydney as a season-defining moment for the side.
Victory played with 10 men for 80 minutes after referee Ben Williams gave defender Sam Gallagher a red card.
| P | W | D | L | GD | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adelaide | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 19 |
| 2 | Central Coast | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 17 |
| 3 | Victory | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 13 |
| 4 | Newcastle | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 13 |
| 5 | Perth | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 11 |
| 6 | Western Sydney | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | -2 | 10 |
| 7 | Wellington | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 9 |
| 8 | Heart | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | -1 | 8 |
| 9 | Brisbane | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 7 |
| 10 | Sydney | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | -10 | 6 |
Up by a goal at the break, coach Ange Postecoglou told the players they had a chance to make the rest of the competition take notice.
Thompson epitomised Victory's effort, collapsing to the ground at the final whistle as his side held on for a workmanlike, but clinical, 2-0 win.
"At halftime, Ange said these sorts of games can define a season and, if we win, teams will start to take notice," Thompson said. "If they didn't before this game, they will now.
"When you go a man down you know you've got to be disciplined. We still wanted to push up and hold a high line, pressure as much as we can and try to still keep playing, but it's always harder when a man down. Ange wanted us to keep playing, just be a bit more defensive minded.
"When we countered, he wanted it to be with purpose and with some kind of action at the end of it, such as a shot, because we knew we wouldn't get many opportunities."
Thompson said Gallagher, playing his first game for Victory and his second A-League appearance after moving from Central Coast Mariners, was stiff to be sent off.
But Thompson said the response had filled the team with confidence, which would help compensate for his and Mark Milligan's absence for the next two weeks due to East Asian Games qualifiers in Hong Kong.
"It was a tough decision. He got fouled before he made the foul," Thompson said.
"But when you make a foul and you're the last defender, when the referee blew we knew he was going to get sent off and from then on it was going to be a grind.
"But we were disciplined. It was a shame Andrew (Nabbout) had to come off, because he's an exciting player. But Jonathan Bru came on and was excellent and Billy Celeski was awesome, as was the back four.
"We are still buzzing about the win. To go down a man and not win 1-0 but 2-0 will give us plenty of encouragement for the next couple of weeks.
"It will be challenging, but this is where our squad and players get tested. Everyone is pretty drilled on how Ange wants to play and I'm confident we've got the depth."
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