Melbourne Victory FC–Western United FC rivalry

The Melbourne Victory–Western United FC rivalry, also known as the Battle of the Bridge and the Westgate Derby, is a rivalry between Victorian clubs Melbourne Victory and Western United.

Despite the rivalry's short existence, it has garnered a reputation for producing talking points, controversy, tension, goals and drama.^[1] In the team's first meeting, in November 2019 at Marvel Stadium, Western United won 3–2 despite going 2–0 down within the first 7 minutes. In February 2021 at Marvel Stadium, despite conceding the first goal of the match and despite being reduced to 10 men for the final half-hour of the match, Western United won 4–3, with Victor Sanchez scoring in the final minute of stoppage time.

Overall, Western United have won more games in the rivalry's history, having won four times with one draw. Western United's record win was a 3–1 victory in an A-League Men match at GMHBA Stadium on 8 December 2019, with the Victory's record win being a 6–1 victory in an A-League match at AAMI Park on 28 May 2021. Besart Berisha holds the mark for the most derby goals with four in all competitions.

Background[]

When Western United joined the A-League for the 2019–20 season as the competition's third Victorian club,^[2] they formed a rivalry with the Melbourne Victory nicknamed the Westgate Derby^[3] and the Battle of the Bridge^[4]

Results[]

Melbourne Victory vs. Western United[]

Western United vs. Melbourne Victory[]

Fixture top scorers in the derby[]

Rank	Scorer	Club(s)	Goals
1	Besart Berisha	Western United	4
2	Alessandro Diamanti	Western United	2
	Elvis Kamsoba	Melbourne Victory
	Víctor Sánchez	Western United

Statistics and records[]

As of 20 November 2021, there have been seven eight first-class meetings between the two teams since the first meeting in 2019, of which Western United have won four, Melbourne Victory with three and one draw. The most goals in one game were scored in was a 4–3 away win by Western United on 27 February 2021 and a 6–1 away win by Melbourne Victory on 28 May 2021. Western United have twice won in Victory's former home Docklands Stadium. Western United's record for goals scored against Melbourne Victory is 3 goals by Besart Berisha and 2 by Víctor Sánchez.

Summary of results[]

As of 26 December 2021

Players who played for both clubs[]

Connor Pain and Besart Berisha have played for both Melbourne Victory and Western United

Six players have played for both Melbourne Victory and Western United in senior football since 2019, with inaugural Western United squad members Besart Berisha and Connor Pain being the first players to have played for both Melbourne Victory and Western United, with both players starting for Western United in their inaugural A-League match against Wellington Phoenix FC on Sunday 13 October 2019.

Josh Cavallo and Thiel Iradukunda had previously played for Melbourne Victory's youth team before going on to represent Western United's senior team.

Dalibor Markovic was the first player to directly transfer between the two clubs when he signed for Western United from Melbourne Victory midway through the 2020–21 A-League season, while Brendan Hamill became the first player to transfer directly from Western United to Melbourne Victory when he joined the Victory in July 2021.

Name	Pos	Victory			Western United
		Career	Apps	Goals	Career	Apps	Goals
Connor Pain	FW	2013–18	67	5	2019–	64	5
Besart Berisha	FW	2014–16	137	86	2019–21	50	26
Sebastian Pasquali	MF	2016	4	0	2019–	15	0
Dalibor Markovic	DF	2020–2021	4	0	2021–	4	0
Brendan Hamill	DF	2021–	7	0	2019–2021	20	0
Christian Theoharous	FW	2017–2018	25	1	2021–	4	0

Highest attendances[]

• Melbourne 2–3 Western; 20,865 (2 November 2019); Marvel Stadium
• Melbourne 3–1 Western; 13,186 (26 December 2021); AAMI Park
• Western 3–1 Melbourne; 10,128 (8 December 2019); GMHBA Stadium
• Western 0–1 Melbourne; 8,120 (20 November 2021); GMHBA Stadium
• Melbourne 3–4 Western; 7,190 (27 February 2021); Marvel Stadium

See also[]

• Sports rivalry

References[]