The first round of the 2022-23 A-League Men campaign is now in the books, after 10 of the 12 teams played over the weekend. Casting his eye across the landscape, ESPN's Joey Lynch breaks down four things that impressed and four things that didn't across the last weekend.
Stocks Up
Chris Ikonomidis
Relegated to a bench role behind Ben Folami, Nick D'Agostino, Jake Brimmer and Nani in Melbourne Victory's attack, Ikonomidis quickly provided a reminder of his own significant talent in Saturday's 3-2 Big Blue win.
After being brought on as a 62nd-minute substitute for Folami, Ikonomidis was on hand at the back post to turn in an inch-perfect cross from Nani to put Victory ahead 2-1 and then turned provider by laying the table for Josh Brillante's 83rd-minute winner.
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Coming off the back of a season in which he struggled mightily with his fitness, which wasn't helped by the significant amount of time he had to spend in hotel quarantine after representing the Socceroos in World Cup qualifiers on the eve of the season, Ikonomidis return to form has flown somewhat under the radar heading into this season. This was exacerbated by Nani's signing and the emergence of Victory's young attacking talent.
However, at 27, Ikonomidis is ostensibly now in the prime of his career and having already been capped 17-times for the national team, he can't be ruled out of a World Cup berth if moves into Victory's starting lineup and continues to rack up goals and assists.
With spots on the plane for Qatar still up for grabs, it was Melbourne Victory winger Chris Ikonomidis who impressed most on ALM opening weekend. Matt King/Getty ImagesCardiologists in the greater Adelaide area
Adelaide United and late-game drama, name a more iconic duo. The Reds once again left it very, very, very late against the Wellington Phoenix in their 1-1 draw on Sunday afternoon with Ben Halloran netting a 93rd-minute leveller to ensure Carl Veart's side would take a point with them back across the Tasman.
Per Australian football stats doyen Andy Howe, the Reds were able to secure a win after the 85th-minute mark of games in 2021-22 -- two of these from losing positions -- as well as salvage three draws in that span. And thanks to Halloran, they're already of the mark for late drama in 2022-23.
The salvaged point will likely obfuscate a performance in which the Reds lacked creativity and largely resorted to spamming crosses into the box against an opponent with a one-player disadvantage for an hour. Nonetheless, while it would be better to avoid these situations in the first place the Reds continued ability to remain in games until the very end and somehow find a way to continue to take points from these affairs can't be considered a weakness.
Ben Halloran's 93rd-minute equalizer ensured Adelaide United left New Zealand with a point. Masanori Udagawa/Getty ImagesValon Berisha
Arriving on loan at Melbourne City from Ligue 1 club Reims after previously spending time at Lazio and Fortuna Dusseldorf in the preceding season, and as a player capped over 50 times by Norway and then Kosovo, Berisha has the type of resume to suggest he should dominate the Australian top-flight.
And while there were some clear signs of rust -- not surprising in the first week of the season -- and an ongoing adjustment and familiarisation period in coach Patrick Kisnorbo's system, Berisha's performance against Western United on Friday suggested that he's going to quickly prove a major difference maker for his new side this season; flashing combinations of sublime skill and touch as well as physicality. He was also unlucky to be pinged by the VAR for a foul on Ben Garuccio on his new side's would-be first goal of the campaign, but fortunately, it didn't affect the result.
Valon Berisha's debut for Melbourne City was an impressive one. Robert Cianflone/Getty ImagesThe new Sydney Football Stadium
The actual football match didn't end the way that its new tenants would have liked, but the new Sydney Football Stadium impressed in its ALM bow in the Big Blue. Football fans had already got a taste of it when the Matildas hosted Canada, but the pre-game show and atmosphere produced in the stadium were excellent. Further, having a world-class home to consistently rest their head rather than use a variety of grounds should ostensibly also give the Sky Blues a major boost this season.
Of course, having a nice stadium to play in is only part of the battle, especially in stadiums with large capacities like the near 50,000-seater SFS -- more on that later. The challenge for the Sky Blues now is ensuring that they can keep the punters coming back for more throughout the season to help try to reproduce Saturday's atmosphere throughout the remainder of the season.
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