Melbourne Victory v. Melbourne City

The 2015 A-League season has just begun and tonight was the derby game between Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City FC at Etihad Stadium. Justin was kind enough to invite me along once again this year, and he has amazing seats in the center close to the field. The atmosphere was fantastic as usual with all the chanting and singing in the north and south ends, especially as it was the first home game for Victory this season. I was looking forward to a bunch of flares being lit like last year, but there were only two throughout the whole match and those came from the Melbourne City FC corner of the ground.

The game itself was quite entertaining. It was a pretty even match, and Victory went into halftime with a 1-0 lead off an own goal, and then scored their second a bit over 10 minutes into the second half. Everything was looking good, but then Melbourne City came back and scored two goals within 3 minutes to tie things up 2-2. It seemed like the game would end in a draw but Besart Berisha scored a goal in the 90th minute and Victory won the match 3-2. It was a very exciting finish, but would have been devastating for Melbourne City supporters.

Melbourne Victory v Melbourne City FC

The A-League season commenced a couple weeks ago, and tonight was the first of the Melbourne Derby games between Melbourne Victory and the newly branded Melbourne City FC (formerly Melbourne Heart).  Justin was kind enough to invite Neil and me to come along to this sold out match at Etihad Stadium.  His seats were ridiculously close as we were eight rows up near the center of the field (Etihad moved all the lower level seats out towards the rectangular ground).  The atmosphere of the game was fantastic, and the North end Victory fans were lighting flares even before the match had started! 

Melbourne City FC struck with the first goal in the 13th minute, but Victory tied things up about 10 minutes later with a goal from Archie Thompson.  Then City came back to score again within the next 5 minutes, and held a 2-1 lead until Victory's Besart Berisha tied it up just before half time.  In the second half it was all Victory as Berisha again scored right at the start of the half and in the 67th minute.  To put the icing on the cake Thompson got another goal a few minutes before the end of match resulting in a 5-2 win for Victory.  The crowd were super excited throughout and flares got lit after each goal.  We were also lucky to get to watch Spanish player David Villa, who is on loan for up to 10 games to Melbourne City FC from New York City FC, which will compete for the first time in the MLS in 2015.

Fitzroy, Collingwood and Melbourne Victory

To give Leilani a taste of Melbourne hipster life we headed to Fitzroy and Collingwood this afternoon for a bit of a wander around.  We started our adventure on Gertrude Street and then turned up Smith Street.  While there we stopped for lunch at Jimmy Grants and had tzatziki dip with pita bread and some very yummy souvas.  Next we hit Gelato Messina for dessert.  This was my second time there and I tried out the tiramisu and choc mint flavors.  While they were both good, I still prefer Spring Street Grocer for the freshest and tastiest gelati in town.

We next turned left and travelled down Johnston Street, where our street art hunt began in earnest.  There are so many little side streets with hidden treasures located inside them.  You just never know what you might find, and we were fortunate to spot some amazing pieces both here and around Brunswick Street as we also browsed in some shops and stopped for a coffee at The Fitz Cafe.

 

 

 

  

After our fun afternoon we headed to the train station to get to AAMI Park and partake in another of Melbourne's favorite past times- sport!  Tonight thanks to my friend Justin we got to join him to watch Melbourne Victory vs Adelaide United in an A-League football match (or soccer for us Americans).  The Adelaide fans were in their own small corner of the stadium, but they made up for it through their loud voices.  There was also the amusing chanting and dancing from the Melbourne Victory supporters in the north and south ends of the stands throughout the night.  

The game itself was quite a good one in this battle for third place on the ladder.  Adelaide scored a quick goal at the start and were leading 2-1 at the half, but the Victory came back in the second half and scored 3 goals within a 19 minute period, which had the crowd jumping and cheering each time.  Despite a goal by Adelaide near the end of the match Melbourne held on to win 4-3 in one of the more entertaining matches of the season.

Melbourne Victory vs. Brisbane Roar

After drinks to celebrate surviving the first week of the new government, Chantal, Amrita, Justin and I headed into Chinatown for dinner at Ants Bistro.  Justin goes there frequently enough that they were pouring him his beer by the time we sat down at the table.  It was a good and filling meal and I'll probably go there again.

Justin and I then left and headed to AAMI Park to watch Melbourne Victory take on top of the table A-League team the Brisbane Roar.  This was my first time attending a professional soccer match, and the atmosphere was quite entertaining.  On the north and south ends of the grounds behind the goals are the hard core fans who chant and sing (and sometimes throw flares) during the match.  Justin is a mad soccer (or football) fan and was explaining the nuances of the game to me throughout the evening.

The first half was a bit of a disappointment as Brisbane ended up scoring two goals.  However, Melbourne fought back in the second half, scoring three straight goals and had the lead going into stoppage time.  In the last minute of the match Brisbane's goal keeper appeared to pick up the ball outside of the box, which wasn't called by the officials.  The ball then made it's way down the field and Brisbane ended up scoring a goal off a rebound from the Melbourne goal keeper in the dying seconds to bring the match to a 3-3 draw.  The crowd was not impressed and the officials were booed off the ground.  Even though it was a heartbreaking draw, the match was very exciting, especially in the second half.