Popovic admits Melbourne deserved victory

Western Sydney Wanderers coach Tony Popovic had few complaints after watching his team go down 3-1 away to a slick Melbourne Victory outfit on Tuesday.

Western Sydney Wanderers coach Tony Popovic had few complaints after watching his team go down 3-1 away to a slick Melbourne Victory outfit on Tuesday.

The Wanderers, making their second visit to AAMI Park to play the Victory in the space of four games, struggled to threaten a home team missing a host of first-team regulars.

Goals from Archie Thompson and Kosta Barbarouses during a 10-minute spell early in the second half saw the hosts take control of the contest.

And although substitute Tomi Juric pulled one back for the visitors in injury time, Victory made sure of the points through a sub of their own, Guilherme Finker, 60 seconds later.

Addressing the media after the game, Popovic admitted his team, who enjoyed their best spell shortly before half-time, were comprehensively outplayed after the break.

"It wasn't the best game," he said.

"The tempo wasn't like it was a couple of weeks ago," he added, referring to the 1-1 draw between the teams at AAMI Park on December 28.

"But once they scored they got confidence, they got that second goal.

"Once they scored they really lifted. And in the end, if you look at it after the goals that they scored, they deserved to win.

"Once they went 2-0 (up) they deserved to win the game."

Popovic was reluctant to blame his team's lacklustre effort entirely on the searing temperatures the game was played in, but did suggest they had at least partly influenced the outcome.

"I don't want to use the heat as an excuse," he said.

"The tempo of the game wasn't great, obviously the conditions were difficult for the players, but we had enough chances in that first half to take the lead.

"The keeper made some good saves. We were ok at half-time, but when they scored they lifted in confidence and they started to take control of the game."

The Wanderers coach also defended his decision to name Shinji Ono, Youssouf Hersi and Juric on the bench, citing the need to rotate his players during a busy period in the fixture list.

"Three games in eight days, in these conditions - we played on Saturday night, we have another game on Sunday. It wouldn't be possible for them to play 90 minutes in all three games," he said.