It took Bruno Fornaroli less than 15 minutes to get off the mark in Melbourne Victory colours, coming off the bench to bag his first goal for his new club in a 4-0 rout of Newcastle Jets at AAMI Park on Friday night.
The Uruguayan’s dramatic split from Perth Glory on Thursday, October 28 led to his arrival at his new club prior to Round 5, signing as an injury replacement for Matthew Spiranovic – which meant Fornaroli was eligible for selection against the Jets on Friday night.
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He was one of four former Perth players to find the back of the net for Victory on Friday night, joining Jake Brimmer, Chris Ikonomidis and Nick D’Agostino on the scoresheet in a domination of the Jets.
“Look, this is football. Sometimes it’s crazy,” Fornaroli told Paramount+ after his Victory debut. “Look, I’m so happy to be here – and look at this,” Fornaroli gestured to the crowd at AAMI Park. “The atmosphere tonight was amazing. My first couple of minutes, three points, I think the team needed that.
“Of course I cannot say I’m not happy for scoring my first goal with this shirt, and celebrate in front of our fans. I’m so happy. It’s coming, good things for this club – and I need to enjoy my football again.”
As for his acrimonious departure from Perth? “I think I cannot talk about that,” he said. “Now I’m living a dream in front of our fans, played my first game – let’s talk about football.”
The Socceroos striker has instantly set about endearing himself to the Victory faithful – the fanbase of the club he once drew the ire of during his stint at Melbourne City.
Fornaroli’s message to his new fans was simple: “Now they know I will give everything. Every single game I will put my body on the line, and will fight for this club – and they know that. This is why I think now they give me the warm welcome, and I’m very grateful of course.”
‘Sublime’ Brimmer assist – from all angles
“Finally!” Exclaimed Jake Brimmer, when reflecting on his classy assist to Nick D’Agostino which capped off a virtuoso performance from the Johnny Warren Medallist on Friday night.
“Finally! Nick D’Agostino scored from me,” he continued on Paramount+. “All (of) last year I didn’t get one assist for Nick. We’ve been saying it for the last year, and finally tonight he put one in the back of the net for me.”
It was Brimmer’s 13th assist in a Victory shirt, but first of the campaign – and bizarrely, the first he’s provided to D’Agostino despite the attacking duo entering their second season together at the club.
And what an assist it was, bent off the outside of his right boot close to where the touchline met the half-way line, curling past two Jets defenders and falling into D’Agostino’s lap for an emphatic finish.
Paramount+ co-commentator Daniel McBreen labelled the assist as “sublime… just beautiful.
“The technique on the outside of the foot, the vision, and just to put it in front of D’Agostino like that – that’s perfect.”
It looked a masterful pass on first glance – and it looks even better from all angles.
Brimmer’s assist for Victory’s third goal came after he opened the scoring from the spot in the first half.
“It was a terrible penalty,” said a self-reflecting Brimmer “But I scored, so that’s all that matters.”
It was one of four goals for Victory, ending a three-game goalless drought and a two-game losing streak at home. Brimmer cut a relieved figure post-game, expressing his gratitude to the Victory faithful for keeping the faith through a lean period to start the campaign.
“I’ve said it before, they’re the best fans in the league,” Brimmer said.
“Finally tonight we got to show what we’re capable of, we executed our game plan tonight very well.
“I think the best thing about it is we took from last week the good football we played, but we just couldn’t score. Tonight we put the ball in the back of the net and keep a clean sheet – it doesn’t get much better than that.”
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PRE-MATCH
Tony Popovic will be hoping the arrival of veteran star striker Bruno Fornaroli – who departed Perth Glory last week – can help ignite his stuttering attack and avoid a 17-year first.
“We’re building up quite well to the final third,” said Victory head coach Tony Popovic, who welcomes captain Josh Brillante back from suspension, while Jason Geria could make his long-awaited return.
“… We’re very confident in the players we have in the front third. They’re all very good players, young players that are still progressing that have their ups and downs.
“We’re delighted with all the players we have and we feel that any moment it can click.”
Arthur Papas’ Jets head to Melbourne after their perfect start to the season was snapped by high-flying Western Sydney Wanderers.
However, Newcastle will be buoyed by their form against Victory in Victoria, where they have won three of their last four ALM matches (L1), including each of their last two. The only time they have enjoyed a longer winning run in such fixtures was a three-match span from November 2006 to December 2007.
Opta stat: Melbourne Victory have lost their last three A-League Men matches at AAMI Park and conceded a clean sheet in each of the last two games in that span; a fourth consecutive defeat in this fixture would be their outright longest losing run at the venue in the history of the competition.
Melbourne Victory squad: 1.Matt ACTON, 3.Enrique LOPEZ, 4.Rai MARCHAN, 6.Leigh BROXHAM, 7.Chris IKONOMIDIS, 8.Josh BRILLANTE. 9.Tomi JURIC, 10.Bruno FORNAROLI, 11.Ben FOLAMI, 15.Geroge TIMOTHEOU, 16.Stefan NIGRO, 17.Luis NANI, 18.Nick D’AGOSTINO, 20.Paul IZZO, 21.Roderick MIRANDA, 22.Jake BRIMMER, 23.Nathan KONSTANDOPOULOS, 24.Nishan VELUPILLAY, 25.Noah SMITH, 26.Lleyton BROOKS
In: 8. Josh BRILLANTE (returns from suspension), 10.Bruno FORNAROLI (new signing)
Out: nil
Unavailable: 5.Matt SPIRANOVIC (injured)
Newcastle Jets squad: Jack DUNCAN (gk), 2. Dane INGHAM, 3. Jason HOFFMAN, 4. Jordan ELSEY, 5. Matthew JURMAN (co-captain), 6. Brandon O’NEILL (co-captain), 7. Trent BUHAGIAR, 8. Beka DARTSMELIA, 9. Beka MIKELTADZE, 10. Reno PISCOPO, 11. Jaushua SOTIRIO, 14. Mohamed AL-TAAY, 17. Kosta GROZOS, 18. Daniel STYNES, 19. Callum TIMMINS, 20. Michael WEIER (gk), 23. Rory JORDAN, 24. James McGARRY, 25. Carl JENKINSON (co-captain), 32. Angus THURGATE, 33. Mark NATTA
In: Archie GOODWIN
Out: Noah JAMES
