The final day of the Round of 16 produced a string of remarkable results including a fourth cup-set of 2024, the most of any Australia Cup campaign.
Moreton City Excelsior came from two goals down to topple Perth Glory, while Melbourne Victory put four past NWS Spirit. The all-NPL Men’s Victoria game between Oakleigh Cannons and Heidelberg United required penalties to decide a winner, with Oakleigh prevailing.
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Moreton City Excelsior FC – 3 (Marquez Walters 15’, Ben Holliday 31’, Joseph Scott 86’)
Perth Glory FC – 2 (Zach Lisolajski 3’, Jacob Muir 10’)
Moreton City Excelsior pulled off one of the greatest cup-sets in Australia Cup history to come-back from two goals and beat Perth Glory 3-2 at Perry Park.
The Glory made the most of the early exchanges, jagging the opening goal from a corner three minutes in. Zach Lisolajski got his head to the set piece and directed an accurate finish into the goal.
Glory’s deliveries were causing Moreton City problems, and seven minutes later, the visitors had a second goal. Brandon O’Neill sent a curling cross into the area that Jacob Muir steered beyond Nathan Foster.
The frantic opening stages of the match continued in the 15th minute when Moreton City halved the deficit.
Marquez Walters raced into the right channel of the box and squeezed the ball past Oli Sail. The goal was ‘Sharky’ Walters’ third in the Final Rounds of the 2024 Cup.
Moreton City built on this and equalized after 31 minutes. Ben Holliday shifted the ball inside alongside the penalty area and blasted a strike high into the top left corner.
The game took an interesting twist with three regular first-half minutes to play when Perth’s Adam Bugarija was shown his second yellow card and sent off.
The hosts went into the break with all the momentum, fighting back from two goals down and now facing ten players.
The first half left the match evenly poised and this carried on after the break, with the next goal likely to be the winner.
In the 86th minute, the home side completed the comeback through Joseph Scott’s superb header from a left-sided cross that nestled in the top left corner.
Scott’s winner etched Moreton City further into Australia Cup history and into the Quarter-Finals of the 2024 edition.
NWS Spirit FC – 0
Melbourne Victory FC – 4 (Ryan Teague 28’, Nishan Velupillay 45+1’ 67’, Nikolaos Vergos 57’)
Melbourne Victory showed their quality in a 4-0 win over NWS Spirit at Christie Park.
The visitors hit the front just before the half-hour mark when Ryan Teague lined up a long-ranger and hit a low effort that beat Christopher Marques to the bottom right corner.
Victory’s dominance earned them a second goal just before halftime as Nishan Velupillay rolled the ball onto his left foot and curled a finish into the bottom-left corner.
Victory cut through the Spirit defense again in the 57th minute. A slick transitional move found Velupillay on the right who played a ball across the box for Nikolaos Vergos to tap-in his first goal in his new colours.
The side added another goal 68 minutes in as Daniel Arzani whipped in a cross from the left, finding Bruno Fornaroli, whose shot was saved, but Velupillay followed up to drive the ball into the bottom left corner.
Spirit were unable to find a consolation despite a couple of opportunities, as Victory advanced into the next round.
Oakleigh Cannons FC – 1 (4) (Jordan Hall 55’)
Heidelberg United FC – 1 (1) (Sean Ellis penalty 88’)
The first half was an even tussle as the teams fought for control and there had not been a shot on target by the time the teams went into the break.
The Cannons broke the deadlock 55 minutes in. A left-sided cross caused chaos inside the Heidelberg box before Jordan Hall capitalised to hook the ball in from point-blank range.
It looked like Oakleigh would edge out their NPL Men’s Victoria rivals until the 88th minute when Heidelberg were awarded a penalty.
Sean Ellis took responsibility and slid the ball into the left of the goal with Nick Feely diving the other way in the Cannons’ goal.
The tense Victorian clash finished level at full-time, sending the match on into extra time.
A goalless extra-time period left penalties as the only way to separate the teams.
The Cannons fired home a set of flawless penalties while Heidelberg’s Ben Collins and Joshua Pin struck the crossbar, seeing Oakleigh through to the Quarter-Finals.
