‘It was my decision’: Arzani exclusion backfires on Victory as Macarthur claim Australia Cup
Christian Montegan 
Macarthur FC celebrate winning the Australia Cup. Photo: Round Ball Australia / Marcus Robertson
A bombshell decision to exclude Daniel Arzani from the matchday squad backfired for Patrick Kisnorbo as Melbourne Victory suffered a 1-0 defeat at AAMI Park against Macarthur in the Australia Cup final.
Victory entered the final having previously won two Australia Cup titles in 2015 and 2021, while the Bulls achieved their maiden trophy two years ago.
The home side came in as favourites, but that sentiment started to fade when it was confirmed that Arzani would not be lacing up his boots.
“It was just a selection thing that I thought was relevant for tonight,” Kisnorbo told Network 10.
“Also we need to get used to it because he’s suspended for the first game of the season, so it’s just one of those selection processes that we decided for tonight.”
When asked during the post-match press conference about leaving out Arzani entirely, Kisnorbo stressed that it was a “professional” decision and played down any rift between the pair.
“It was just my decision,” said Kisnorbo. “It was a selection decision I chose [and] round one he won’t be available either.
“The issue isn’t about Daniel – it’s about the team. It was about the team tonight and not the individual. At the end of the day, I made a decision and I stick by it.”
After a cagey and tense start to the match, Victory’s early dominance nearly resulted in a penalty being awarded when full-back Kacey Bos appeared to be brought down by Macarthur’s Kealey Adamson, but VAR could not intervene as the technology is not implemented in the Australia Cup.
New Victory signing Nikos Vergos blazed a glorious chance over the bar a few minutes later, but a couple of top-notch saves from Macarthur goalkeeper and eventual Mark Viduka medal winner Filip Kurto ensured the Bulls kept it goalless at the break.
Despite the momentum staying with the home side early in the second half, a lethal counter-attack exploited Victory’s defence in a heartbeat.
Walter Scott’s delightful through-ball picked out Jed Drew to latch onto before he squared it in the path of former Melbourne City player Marin Jakoliš for an easy finish in the 58th minute.
A double substitution seven minutes later saw Bruno Fornaroli and Jing Reec introduced to inject the polishing touches in the final third for the Victory, with the biggest chance coming from the Uruguayan’s shot which produced shouts for handball quickly waived away.
However, Mile Sterjovski’s men courageously held on to clinch their second-ever Australia Cup title in front of 13,289 spectators without their most influential star, Valère Germain, who sat out through suspension, and in doing so became the first away team in the modern era to be crowned champions of the competition.
“It’s been a tough off-season, so it means a lot [winning the Australia Cup],” Sterjovski admitted after the game.
“I think everyone at the club – the players, staff, office staff have been working tirelessly to make the club better and move forward.
“We want to use the win as confidence. I still think we need to be playing a lot better and I’m confident we can do [that]. In this Australia Cup with the games that we’ve played against NPL opposition and when they sit deep, it’s taught us quite a lot [because] we’ve had to find different ways to win games.”
The result ensures Macarthur will compete in next season’s AFC Champions League Two tournament, having already experienced what was then named the AFC Cup last campaign.
“To win the Australia Cup and qualify for Asia means a lot to everybody involved, and we look forward to playing in that competition again next season,” Sterjovski said.