By Bryce Clayton (@brycecrojas)

Melbourne Victory has extended its lead atop the NPL1 with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Springvale White Eagles on Saturday.

A Stefan Nigro goal was enough for the Victory as they secured yet another win in 2015.

It was a tense start to the match, with a lot of early fouls resulting in an interrupted game and early free kicks for both sides.

It took until the 19^th minute for the first major opportunity, with George Howard creating space in the box and firing the ball into the right post.

But that was the only chance for either side early, as both defenses dominated and didn’t give an inch of space to the opposition.

Things got heated after yellow cards to both Micah Jovanovic and Zarko Milojevic, and frustration continued to build for both sides as half time approached.

Howard found himself with space again in the 44^th minute, but he was unable to get his shot on target as it flashed across the face of goal.

With only two first half shots, it wasn’t the first half Victory nor White Eagles were looking for.

But it only took five minutes in the second half for the White Eagles’ first chance, with Keletso Mthembu almost getting onto the end of a great ball only to have it deflected wide.

The biggest chance of the game went to the Victory in the 61^st minute, with Joey Katebian strolling through the defense and firing his shot into the crossbar leaving the ‘keeper with no chance.

The White Eagles may have escaped Katebian’s shot, but there was nothing it could do when Nigro unleashed from outside the box to give Victory the lead.

A great cutback to the edge of the box found Nigro alone who made no mistake, curling the ball into the bottom left corner.

It was almost an immediate response for the White Eagles as Sebastian Lecaros’ met a corner with a bullet header, but he was denied by an incredible save by Stephen Hatzikourtis.

Howard had another huge opportunity in the 86^th minute to extend the Victory’s lead, but a great save by Jeremy Sandovac denied him once again.

But Victory had too much class in the end, running out 1-0 winners in a tense encounter.

Match details:

Melbourne Victory 1 (Nigro 67’) defeated Springvale White Eagles 0 at White Eagles Stadium [HT: 0-0]

Melbourne Victory: Stephen HATZIKOURTIS, Christian CAVALLO, Milos RIDESIC, Damian MISKULIN, Nick GLAVAN, Anthony DUZEL (Patrick AVICE 90’), Stefan NIGRO, Kieran DOVER, George HOWARD, Joey KATEBIAN, Lucas DERRICK (John MACLEAN 79’)

Unused Subs: Wyatt CHANT, Reece CALDECART

Yellow Cards: Kieran Dover 43'

Red Cards: Nil

 

Springvale White Eagles: Jeremy SANDOVAC, Jordan BALLERINI, Zarko MILOJEVIC, Kedran TOMIC, Keletso MTHEMBU, Micah JOVANOVIC, Sebastian LECAROS, Simo JOVANOVIC, Anthony SELEMIDIS, Trent JANSEN, Dejan ERAKOVIC

Unused Subs: Nikola POPETROV, Ryan BABARE, Nikola NIKOLIC, Brandon JANSZ, Edmon BENJAMIN

Yellow Cards: Micah JOVANOVIC 27’, Zarko MILOJEVIC 29'

Red Cards: Nil