Opening win over Sydney leaves Popovic confident Victory have improved

Melbourne Victory coach Tony Popovic promised "a lot more to come" from his side after the four-times champions kicked off the A-League season on Saturday with a 2-0 win over "Big Blue" rivals Sydney FC.

Bruno Fornaroli and Zinedine Machach were on target in the second half for a Victory side looking to banish memories of last season's dismal performance and launch a challenge for their first title since 2018.

"We put (last season) behind us after the last game that we lost, to Brisbane at home," said Popovic. "Literally three days later we signed off on that.

"Of course we reviewed and reflected, but it was from that moment (that) we trained for an extra three weeks and it was about the new season, new mindset.

"We've seen everyone seeing what they could do better, including myself and the staff, to make sure we put everything behind us."

Hopes were high last year of a serious tilt at the title after Popovic, in charge since April 2021, steered the club to a second-place finish in the regular season and the FFA Cup in his first campaign in charge.

But Victory struggled throughout, finishing 11th in the 12-team competition, 27 points behind regular season tabletoppers and neighbours Melbourne City to miss out on a place in the end-of-season finals series.

However, after a lengthy preseason working with his team, Popovic is confident they will improve on last season's showing.

"Today was more about the performance, the result is a bonus," he said.

"I think the performance showed that we're not the same team as last year. Getting an away win against Sydney in the Big Blue, the fans going home happy, that's the icing on the cake.

"But I thought the performance showed where we're heading and there's a lot more to come."