Muscat: 'There's no excuses, we didn't turn up'
Melbourne Victory boss Kevin Muscat has said the buck stops with him as the club come to terms with Sunday night’s 6-1 Hyundai A-League Semi Final humiliation at the hands of Sydney FC.
Victory fell behind to an Aaron Calver goal after just three minutes and after further strikes from Alex Brosque and a Leigh Broxham own goal shortly before half time they never looked like getting back into a match their Big Blue rivals dominated.
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Sydney’s onslaught saw them tie the record for most goals in an A-League finals match – equalling the six Victory themselves scored in the 2007 Grand Final against Adelaide United – and Muscat refused to make excuses for his team’s performance.
“We had a very off night,” said the 45-year-old, who led Victory to the Championship last season. “Credit to Sydney, they played really well. They’ve earned the right to go to the Grand Final.
“Steve [Corica]’s done a fantastic job in his first season. They’ve earned the right to go on and play off next week.
“In sport sometimes this happens; you have a really off night, and I’ll take responsibility for that.
We didn’t turn up tonight, we didn’t perform well enough. There’s no excuses.
“We’re a proud football club and we’ll pick ourselves up and explore areas, because we need to get better.”