Rojas and Troisi on target as Victory reach FFA Cup semis

Melbourne Victory have ensured their spot in the FFA Cup semi-finals after their 2-0 win over Bentleigh Greens in front of a crowd of 3754 at Kingston Heath Soccer Complex in Melbourne while Canberra Olympic secured a last-minute 1-0 victory over Green Gully at Deakin Stadium in Canberra.

FFA Cup Quarter Final - Bentleigh Greens v Melbourne Victory

Besart Berisha embraces Marco Rojas after the Kiwi opened the scoring Source: Getty Images AsiaPac

The post-match semi-final draw produced a derby when it pitted Victory against Melbourne City while Canberra's reward for beating Green Gully will be a home clash with Sydney FC. Both ties will be in October.

In a similar vein to last week's Sydney win over Blacktown City, A-League giants Victory looked a level above their NPL opponents.

Victory dominated possession while spending the vast majority of the opening period of the match in their opponents' half as Australia coach Ange Postecoglu looked on.

This changed just after the 20-minute mark as Bentleigh had a series of chances on goal, with striker Tyson Holmes's shot deflected by James Donachie before the resulting corner also went begging.

Both sides would trade chances through to the end of the half, with Marco Rojas coming close 10 minutes before the break but failing to capitalise.

James Troisi looked dangerous throughout, continuously probing at the Bentleigh defence, frustrating the opposition to the extent that he was on the receiving end of a hard foul from Ross Archibald that flared tempers, with both the Greens defender and Victory captain Carl Valeri receiving yellows after a skirmish.
Rojas suffered a hard foul in the second half from Dion Kirk as Melbourne's steady pressure continued to get the better of the home side before the New Zealander found the back of the net in the 64th minute off an Oliver Bozanic cross to open the scoring.  

Triosi, the 2015 AFC Asian Cup hero, doubled the lead only four minutes later as his shot from just inside the box was deflected into the back of the net past the helpless Bentleigh keeper Ryan Scott.

The match would finish 2-0, ensuring Victory join Sydney and cross-town rivals Melbourne City as one of three A-League representatives in the final four of the cup.
In Canberra, the home side secured their spot six minutes into injury-time after Green Gully conceded a penalty, with goalkeeper Angelo Konstantinou slotting home the penalty in a hotly contested match that saw eight yellow cards and one red given.

What made the match even more amazing was that Canberra managed to see out the match with only 10 men after Adam Rogic, brother of Tom, was sent off after receiving a second yellow in the 60th minute for stamping on an opponent.


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3 min read
Published 27 September 2016 7:39pm
Updated 27 September 2016 9:35pm
Source: SBS


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