Super sub Archie Thompson and Daniel Allsopp sealed a 5-0 win for Melbourne Victory over the Newcaslte Jets in tonight’s A-League clash.
Allsopp bagged a brace and ensured maximum points for the Victory within the space of three minutes in the second half.
The former Manchester City striker has been delighted with the way Melbourne have come out of the blocks this A-League season after their slow start last time around.
“It makes a difference and we’re reaping the rewards of the commitment the boys have shown,” Allsopp told Fox Sports.
Jets captain Jade North was disappointed with tonight’s performance but remained positive.
“We just didn’t turn up tonight, simple as that... we lost a lot of players last season, we’re gonna hurt from that but we got to pick ourselves up and we’ve got to be competitive this year,” said North.
The Victory and Jets traded fouls in the early stages of tonight’s round-three A-League opener at the Telstra Dome.
Kevin Muscat let fly with an optimistic effort in the 13th minute, but it never looked like making the highlights reel.
With 14 fouls apiece in the opening 15 minutes neither team had settled into a rhythm.
Tarek Elrich picked up the first yellow card in the 22nd minute with a late challenge on Billy Celeski.
Frustration was creeping in and the contest desperately needed a goal to breathe some life into it.
Victory favourite Archie Thompson replaced Michael Thwaite who suffered an early knock.
Rodrigo Vargas almost broke the deadlock with a wonderful header only for Ante Covic to pull off a tremendous point-blank save in the 25th minute.
A half chance then fell to Newcastle’s James Holland after a deflection, but his technique let him down as he sprayed his shot well-wide.
Carlos Hernandez slotted into the Victory's midfield as the home team looked to make a breakthrough.
The Jets somehow survived when Hernandez provided a killer ball through to Allsopp who took his chance first time, only for Covic to block Allsopp’s effort in the 33rd minute.
You would have bet your house on Ney Fabiano scoring for the Victory as the ball fell to him unmarked in the box, but his shot took a deflection and went just wide in the 35th minute.
A goal had been coming, the Victory fans could sense it and Hernandez buried his chance with an emphatic finish in the 41st minute.
It came courtesy of a Thompson diagonal through-ball.
Fabiano missed another sitter with just a minute to go in the first half, but Victory golden boy Thompson made no mistake, vindicating Ernie Merrick's decision to bring him on after Thwaite's injury.
The Socceroo found the back of the net in the 45th minute as he smashed the ball past a furious Covic.
The second half began with the Victory picking up from where they left off. They looked hungry to add to their two first half goals.
Newcastle was running out of ideas and Jets’ coach Gary van Egmond brought Ecuadorean Edmundo Zura into the game early in the second half.
Allsopp made no mistake from close range in the 61st minute as Thompson found the Victory forward unmarked at the far post.
The well-travelled forward added to his tally within minutes as Fabiano put the big man through on goal. Allsopp brought the ball down comfortably from his chest and slotted the ball past the oncoming Covic’s right post.
The Jets were run ragged with Jobe Wheelhouse being replaced by veteran Noel Spencer in the 84th minute but it didn’t help with Grant Brebner capitalising on a poor punch from Covic and scoring with a powerful strike right at the death.
Some good news for Jets’ fans came after the game with North dispelling rumours of a possible move to Europe. “It’s all talk, I don’t know nothing,” said North.
Victory coach Ernie Merrick said his original plan was to bring Thompson on early in the second half.
"There was a temptation to bring on a midfielder, I have to say," Merrick told AAP.
"But sometimes as a coach you just have a gut feeling and you just feel we could really demolish this backline if we throw another striker in the mix.
"Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, tonight it worked really well."
Newcastle coach Gary Van Egmond said his team had to quickly sharpen up to be a force in the league this season.
He said Covic's mistake which led to the second goal was the "killer".
"It was a real poor decision from the keeper to play the ball in that area and you got duly punished," Van Egmond said.
"A number of the goals, which was a reflection of how we played, were from our mistakes."
MELBOURNE VICTORY 5 (Hernandez 41, Thompson 45, Allsopp 61, 65, Brebner 90)
bt NEWCASTLE JETS 0