In the space of four minutes, Daniel Arzani gave the A-League Men a valuable reminder of his quality.
The former Socceroos wunderkind delivered two wonderful assists for Melbourne Victory teammate Damien De Silva on Tuesday night to snatch a dramatic 2-1 injury-time win over Western United.
For the first, in the 95th minute, Arzani lofted a super ball to the ball post for Da Silva to head home.
Three minutes later, he had the presence of mind to slip through the centre-back to rifle home the winner.
"Very good," coach Tony Popovic said.
"That's the second game this year that he's not started, so it's the most minutes he's ever played in a season.
"He knows what I think of him as a player and as a person. I don't need to talk about that too much here.
"But I thought the first 20 minutes he was trying really hard to be the difference and maybe trying too hard.
"And then the last 25-30 minutes with the injury time, I thought he was just outstanding in his decision-making which is another step forward for him."
Arzani's outstanding effort off the bench came just three days after Popovic substituted him against Melbourne City and bristled at the suggestion he had been one of Victory's better performers that night.
The 25-year-old now has two goals and five assists for the season as he attempts to kickstart his career at Victory and return to the Socceroos.
For Victory, the two buried chances snapped a five-hour goalless run and elevated them to third ahead of hosting second-placed Central Coast on Sunday at AAMI Park.
"First and foremost, we have to recover," Popovic said.
"I'm sure everyone will enjoy the night, the players for sure.
"We'll recover tomorrow and Thursday we'll make sure that we move on to Central Coast because it's another crucial game and we'd love to get some momentum now and they're having an outstanding season.
"So we're both on the same points and both teams will be very keen to get the three points and move closer to get the second place and keep pushing (leaders) Wellington who are clearly having a wonderful season."
Victory's players came together in a tight circle before celebrating their triumph, which snapped a six-game winless run.
"It's not a directive from me," Popovic said.
"I didn't know about it before, I was told by the staff the players did that.
"It's probably just an indication of how close this group is and how much belief they have.
"I'm not sure what was said but it's clear it's a collective and the group's together."
