Victory certainly did not play well in the scrappy 1-0 win over Brisbane Roar on Friday night, a game that, in keeping with its tone and style, was decided by an own goal 13 minutes from time.

It was a stop-start affair lacking in fluency, flow, style and sizzle, not the sort of affair that would have been predicted between the reigning champions and one of the clubs most fancied to fight for their title.

Perhaps the tension of the game got to the respective players - Besart Berisha's first appearance against the teammates with whom he had such success over the past few years was likely to be a fraught affair.

But that in itself is not enough to explain such a scrappy contest, where neither side was able to string together the sort of passing football with which they have hitherto been associated.

Still, Muscat is not that bothered. Winning ugly is an underrated skill, luck an underestimated commodity.

Victory managed to achieve the former on Friday night, although they didn't need much of the latter: that can be used up later in the season.

And teams that win championships or go on to have long unbeaten runs - as Brisbane did under current Socceroos boss Ange Postecoglou - tend to be able to do the former and enjoy the latter.

Victory are now unbeaten in seven matches and lie three points behind ladder leaders Perth Glory. They will be a better team when they regain experienced centre-half Matthieu Delpierre and young centre-back Nick Ansell, who is expected to resume playing next week.

Muscat's men play with a collective will to succeed and the benefits of playing so many youngsters and fringe players last season, when the tyro coach had to juggle his resources while competing in the Asian Champions League and battling for the A-League championship, are paying off.

Players such as Scott Galloway and DylanMurnane have come on considerably for the experience.

His signing of visa players has also been good: the capture of Berisha is the most obvious example, but Delpierre, before his injury, certainly brought class and stability to the rearguard, while Daniel Georgievski, the Macedonian international, has brought fire, aggression pace and no little ability to the left-back role.

Victory will have to be a lot sharper and inventive when Adelaide United arrive next Friday night for what should be a blockbuster at AAMI Park.

"I think you'll see a different team when Adelaide come to town. They'll want to play. They'll get the ball down and want to play. It will be really good, two teams not taking a backwards step," was Muscat's view.

Still, he was happy that his team "found  another way to win" against Brisbane. "Can we play better? Yes, of course we can. But we'll certainly take that."

Once again Leigh Broxham proved his versatility and what an important player he is for the club.

Broxham has been there since 2006, when he joined the club as a teenage gear steward and won promotion to the playing squad.

On Friday night he was deployed as a central defender, a big ask for a player of his size (around 170 centimetres), but he acquitted himself well, not just defensively but from set pieces where he defied his height disadvantage to go close twice with headers.