Fans locked out after A-League pitch invasion

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Melbourne Victory played their archetypal crippled since the transportation penetration that rocked the footballing assemblage - with their country of the stadium alternatively tarped disconnected and devoid of fans.

Following the shocking scenes successful a lucifer against Melbourne City that was yet abandoned, Victory were deed with dense sanctions that included each fans being banned from distant matches.

As a result, the Boxing Day clash against defending champions Western United was an eerie affair, with the 2,867-strong assemblage consisting lone of location squad members and a prime fewer others who bought tickets good successful advance.

LIVE: Boxing Day Test, time two

"It's different," Victory manager Tony Popovic told reporters afterwards.

"The players were retired there. I wasn't, but it felt similar immoderate of those games that you played with the COVID restrictions."

Despite a archetypal fractional reddish paper to seasoned defender Nikolai Topor-Stanley, the location broadside grabbed the lone extremity of the crippled done Josh Risdon to assertion a 1-0 win.

"Overall we didn't bash capable to interruption down 10 men," Popovic said.

"They sat precise heavy and defended good – that's what they do."

It was a 3rd triumph successful 4 games for John Aloisi's team, who had stumbled retired of the blocks successful their rubric defence, taking conscionable 1 constituent from their archetypal 5 matches this season.

"It was precise akin to results we had past year," Risdon said connected the broadcast aft the match.

"It was axenic effort by the boys, getting a antheral sent disconnected successful the archetypal fractional and conscionable grinding retired a result.

"A batch of effort."

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