Tony Popovic is refusing to get too upset with his Melbourne Victory side after they blew the chance to move five points clear at the top of the A-League Men.
An 89th-minute strike from Central Coast forward Jing Reec cancelled out Daniel Arzani’s opener and allowed the Mariners to claim a point in a 1-1 draw at Allianz Stadium on Saturday.
Reec raced onto a speculative ball forward, rounded goalkeeper Paul Izzo and finished calmly to get the Mariners level.
It undid a mountain of good work for Victory who had chances to kill the game at 1-0 but were made to rue their inefficiency in front of goal.
Wellington can leapfrog Victory into top spot with a win over Perth on Sunday, while Western Sydney Wanderers are just three points behind Popovic’s men.
Victory were forced into several changes throughout the game with Ryan Teague failing to finish with a knock and Arzani pulling out with cramp on a sapping afternoon.
Popovic said he was satisfied with his side’s overall display as they extended their unbeaten start to the season to 12 games.
“I thought overall it was a tough game for us physically as well,” Popovic said.
“We made four forced changes, which is not really something we've had to do thus far.
"The effort was great and I thought we had some opportunities to put them away.
“The focus was really good but that one moment hurt us and we go home with one (point) instead of three.”
Arzani’s 70th substitution was a big blow for Victory after he scored their opener from the penalty spot in the 33rd minute after Chris Ikonomidis was hacked down by Dan Hall.
The six-cap Socceroos winger had chances to add more to his tally after a number of promising runs but his end product was lacking before the cramps eventually caught up with him.
“He was very disciplined and he’s improving and he should have made it 2-0,” Popovic said.
“He needs to be more decisive but he’s getting better… his body has got to get stronger but that’s part of the process.”
As a makeshift Victory began to tire, the Mariners began to grow with belief.
Head coach Mark Jackson threw the energetic Reec into the fray in pursuit of an equaliser with less than 10 minutes left and the forward duly delivered.
“I was really pleased that he could come on and do that,” said Jackson, whose side haven’t lost since November.
“He showed real composure - he had one similar last week - and I'm really pleased for him and the team because we deserved that."
