Postecoglou shoulders blame

Melbourne Victory coach Ange Postecoglou accepted responsibility for his side’s 4-2 loss to fierce rivals Adelaide United on Friday. Victory fell behind to an early goal just two minutes in before striker Andrew Nabbout scored his fourth goal of the campaign to equalise. However, sloppy defending and lapses in concentration saw Adelaide race to a 4-1 lead with three goals inside 11 minutes, all in the first half. Marcos Rojas got a goal back directly after half-time but it was only a consolation, as United avenged their 2-1 loss when the two sides met in October. Having seen his team concede four goals in 32 minutes, Postecoglou took the blame for the defensive leaks. “I probably got team selection wrong. It wasn’t my greatest coaching night so I deserve what I get. My performance was pretty ordinary,” Postecoglou said. “We had a really poor first half defensively and we paid the price for it. “I thought our football was still decent in the first half, but just that defensively we weren’t desperate enough and positionally we weren’t great. “Adelaide were too good for us tonight. Our fragilities are for us to address, but you’ve got to pay credit to Adelaide.”