Melbourne Victory striker Ola Toivonen finding his touch

Swedish striker Ola Toivonen warned Melbourne Victory fans early in the A-League season that he wasn’t a prolific goalscorer.

Melbourne Victory striker Ola Toivonen shoots to score against Adelaide United at Marvel Stadium. Picture: AAP

Swedish striker Ola Toivonen warned Melbourne Victory fans early in the A-League season that he wasn’t a prolific goalscorer.

But after finding the net in Victory’s 2-0 win over Adelaide United on Saturday and setting up their other goal with a superb header, he’s doing little to convince them he’s speaking the truth.

It was Toivonen’s second goal from four games, after missing the opening three rounds with a calf injury, and was his first 90-minute performance for his new club.

The 32-year-old looked a class above most players at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night, unsurprising given his 64 caps for Sweden.

Toivonen said he was pleased with his contribution on Saturday.

“It was a solid performance,” he said. “It was a tough first half but we tired them out and kept patient so overall a good performance.”

Stretching their winning streak to five matches, Victory’s first goal was scored by Kosta Barbarouses, who pounced on a rebound from Toivonen’s initial header. Toivonen felt the chemistry between the two was building.

“It’s natural that the more games you play the more you get to know each other,” he said.

Victory coach Kevin Muscat said while Toivonen was the star, the win came from a real team effort.

He made special mention of Terry Antonis, who played a pinpoint ball in for Toivonen’s header, with the second goal coming off a backheel flick to the big Swede.

“Ola gets to perform the way he does because of the people around him,” Muscat said.

“His finish was exceptional and he caused problems all evening for United.”

Meanwhile, Sydney coach Steve Corica has criticised his side’s poor starts and defensive lapses while foreshadowing squad changes for the upcoming Sydney derby.

The Sky Blues’ sloppy defending and inability to handle Wellington’s direct approach proved costly in their shock 3-1 loss at home to the Phoenix at Jubilee Stadium on Saturday.

Phoenix had effectively wrapped the game up by halftime, leading 3-0 by the break.

Sydney were also outplayed in the first half of last week’s game against Central Coast, though they fought back to win after conceding the opening goal.

Corica has fielded the same starting side for Sydney’s last seven league and FFA Cup games, but after Saturday’s match he committed to making changes for the ANZ Stadium clash with Western Sydney.

Paulo Retre could lose his spot to Siem de Jong, although Daniel De Silva, who has made a number of cameo substitute appearances since recovering from a pre-season hamstring injury, is another option.

“We’ve got players back which is great, so there will be some changes next week,” Corica said. “We can’t perform like that again. Our first-half performances in the last two games were not good enough.

“The guys know that it’s happened twice in a row, it needs to change a lot and it will next week.

“It’s a derby game. We have good form against the Wanderers and we expect to win and put on a better performance.”

Corica made it clear he wanted a greater defensive workrate across his side, not just from his back four.

“In attack as well, it’s not just the defence, defence starts from the front, it’s everyone,” Corica said.

AAP