Western United was not able to get its A-League season off to a positive start in Geelong on Saturday, falling 1-0 to Melbourne Victory.
Just over 8000 fans filed into GMHBA Stadium for United’s second game in Geelong in two weeks, with a goal in the 76th minute to Victory’s Roderick Miranda proving to be the difference.
United players were left frustrated in the 82nd minute when they thought skipper Alessandro Diamanti should have been awarded a penalty.
United coach John Aloisi said while he hated losing, there was a lot to take out of the game.
“It was very positive from our side, we played well,” he said.
“We created some good openings in the first half and we had a couple of good opportunities.
“It was disappointing of course that we lost the game, as we didn’t feel like we deserved to lose that.
“In the end if we keep on performing like that and improving and we will improve, the results will come our way.”
Aloisi said he didn’t have a clear view of the no-call on the penalty for Diamanti, but said his players were adamant there should have been one.
Ben Garuccio, Dylan Wenzel-Halls, Connor Pain and Aleksandar Prijovic all had chances for United throughout the game.
Aloisi said while he was happy with a lot of the game, there were some areas they would need to work on.
He said once they controlled the ball in the middle of the ground, they were able to find more openings.
“The final ball let us down at times, some decision making in the final third let us down,” he said.
“That will come the more the team plays together, the more we gel. We created some really good chances.
“A set piece we got undone by.”
Western United will now head back to Melbourne for their next two games before returning to Geelong for two games in early December.
United will play Wellington Phoenix at GMHBA Stadium in an FFA Cup round of 32 match on December, before backing it up with an A-League clash against Brisbane Roar on December 11.
