Victory outclasses Tasmania

New signings Marcos Flores and Guilherme Finkler made an impressive start in front of a sell-out crowd of around four thousand fans, with the visitor dominating possession from early on.

But it was Victory’s Theo Markelis and Julius Davies who set up the convincing win with goals in the first half.

Although his side held the lead at the break, coach Ange Postecoglou replaced James Jeggo, Finkler, Flores and Markelis with Archie Thompson, Danny Allsopp, Petar Franjic, and Jonathan Bru at half-time.

The second half was shaping up to be a contest with the host lifting early on, but Victory was awarded a penalty which Mark Milligan converted, and Tasmania lost its momentum.

Danny Allsopp all but secured the victory when he found the back of the net just two minutes later.

Melbourne now faces Adelaide United in a pre-season friendly in Launceston on Friday.