United up, Victory down

WESTERN United have broken through for their first A-League win on their home away from home – away from home – Ballarat’s Mars Stadium with a statement 4-1 victory over newcomers Macarthur FC on Saturday evening.

Iker Guarrotxena opened the scoring with a delightful solo effort in the 26th minute then turned creator for Besart Berisha’s tap-in on the stroke of halftime, with second-half goals to Dylan Pierias and Berisha rounding out the rout.

“At the end of the day, when [Guarrotxena’s] driving at players, running forward, you’ve got the amount of freedom that you want,” said coach United Mark Rudan.

For his first A-League goal, Guarrotxena played a one-two with Steven Lustica, and rifled a low shot into the bottom corner.

In the 45th minute, he casually turned on the ball and curled a sublime pass cross field to Alessandro Diamanti who took stock of onrushing Bulls goalkeeper Adam Federici and coolly squared for Berisha to tap home.

The Bulls sparked into life after halftime, with Matt Derbyshire, Benat Extebarria and James Meredith all having shots on goal.

Then, in the 54th minute, Diamanti slipped through a ball for Pierias to turn on the afterburners and snag United’s third.

United made the result a certainty 12 minutes later when Guarrotxena took a lovely touch in traffic and curled a close-range shot onto the post, with Berisha on hand to bury the rebound.

Victory booed

Things weren’t as great for cross town rivals Melbourne Victory, who were booed off the pitch by fans on following their 1-0 loss to the Newcastle Jets on Sunday afternoon.

The Jets struck through 50th-gamer Angus Thurgate in the 72nd minute, securing all three points.

It was another rough day for last-placed Victory – who have now lost five of their opening seven matches – in front of 5,166 fans at AAMI Park.

Victory coach Grant Brebner dropped skipper Leigh Broxham to the bench, with Adama Traore given the captain’s armband, while Callum McManaman returned from injury.

Newcastle dominated early but failed to capitalise – and as the half went on, McManaman was superb on the right wing, creating multiple chances.

The home side’s best chance came in the 48th minute, with Newcastle goalkeeper Jack Duncan diving to tap McManaman’s long-range rocket onto the post.

Victory’s day went from bad to worse as Traore limped off in the 82nd minute with a hamstring complaint – and they had no substitutions left.

“We certainly give them a little bit too much respect,” Brebner said.

“We certainly didn’t get tight enough. We changed things to our favour… but when it’s a flip of a coin, who’s winning games at the moment, it’s not falling for us.”

– BY ANNA HARRINGTON/ AAP