Youngster Lleyton Brooks has proved Melbourne Victory's unlikely hero, scoring a last-ditch winner in a 2-1 defeat of Macarthur FC to help his club edge away from the A-League Men wooden spoon.
Fernando Romero's goal in the third minute handed Victory the lead at AAMI Park on Sunday afternoon.
Bulls skipper Tomislav Uskok headed home in the 66th minute and Victory peppered the goal without reward until Brooks headed home in the 94th, five minutes after entering the fray.
Brooks, 22, had missed some golden opportunities as a late substitute in recent weeks, with Popovic welcoming his return to goal-scoring form.
"What he did today is what he needs to do more of - scored," Popovic said.
"There's several games where he's had clear opportunities to score, and he hasn't taken them.
"So he puts himself in the position, which is great. The next step is he's got to put those chances away, and he did that today."
Attempting to avoid a second wooden spoon in three seasons, Victory (28 points) sit two points clear of the bottom-placed Bulls (26) ahead of facing Brisbane Roar in their final match of the season next Sunday.
"It's been tough for the club, tough for the fans, tough for the players but they go home happy tonight," Popovic said.
"We've got one more chance to at least finish the season on a high, that they can leave on a positive note and we'll do everything we can to do that next week."
On Sunday afternoon, amid reports Victory were set to part ways with marquee attacker Luis Nani, on-loan striker Romero laid down his marker for a permanent stay.
The lively Paraguayan set the wheels in motion for Victory's opener when he slipped through Ben Folami and kept running.
Folami went on a weaving run then cut the ball back to Kadete, who lifted a ball to the front post for Romero to head home.
Macarthur made a wasteful Victory pay when Oliver Jones flicked on Craig Noone's front-post corner to the back stick, where Uskok bullied past three defenders to nod home.
Fornaroli appeared to have restored Victory's lead with a skilful dink in the 74th minute but he was ruled offside after a VAR review.
After several great chances, Victory struck with their last roll of the dice.
Ikonomidis lofted a tantalising ball across goal and Brooks leapt highest to power home the winner.
The boys fought hard for 95 minutes," Bulls coach Mile Sterjovski told reporters.
"It's just heartbreaking - I think three weeks in a row now we've conceded in injury time.
"But overall I thought it was a decent performance."
