Melbourne Victory claimed an historic third A-League
championship with a deserved 3-0 win over Sydney FC in the grand final.
A scintillating first-half Besart Berisha half-volley was
followed by late goals to Kosta Barbarouses and Leigh Broxham in the final ten
minutes to give Melbourne Victory an empathic scoreline.
In contrast to the two sides' attacking reputations, grand
final success was achieved through slog rather than style.
In the absence of full fluency going forward, Victory
harassed and pressured Sydney into submission.
From the very first whistle, Victory showed the intensity of
a champion team.
Led by inspirational captain Mark Milligan, Victory were
simply everywhere, defending from the very front.
A raucous crowd of 29,843 kept their spirits high
throughout, creating the intense atmosphere predicted by Victory coach Kevin
Muscat.
Muscat, who celebrated wildly after Broxham's third goal,
becomes the first man to captain and coach a team to an A-League championship.
The success is Victory's first in five years and gives the
club an A-League record befitting their off-field stature.
An injury to defender Jacques Faty did not help Sydney, who
hobbled from the ground within the opening half hour.
In the first 30 minutes, the Sky Blues had completed just 24
passes and shortly after they were behind.
Gui Finkler cushioned Barbarouses' firm cross into the path
of Berisha, who expertly controlled and lashed past Vedran Janjetovic.
After goals in two grand final wins with Brisbane Roar, the
big-stage Albanian proved his worth yet again.
It was a goal that Victory deserved and finally sprung
Sydney FC to life.
Only in first-half injury time did captain Alex Brosque have
his side's first shot of the match.
It nearly got worse for the Sky Blues, with two brain fades
in two minutes from Matthew Jurman that nearly gifted Milligan and Barbarouses
a second.
The injection of Shane Smeltz gave them a new route to goal
but it was golden boot winner Marc Janko that had Sydney's best chance.
With 15 minutes remaining, the Austrian marquee's free
header was well saved by Lawrence Thomas.
But with seven minutes left on the clock, Victory's Kiwi
livewire poked home a loose ball in the box to make the game safe.
Carl Valeri was needlessly sent off after a second yellow
card with three minutes remaining for kicking the ball away but there was still
time for more celebration.
The stoppage time introduction of Archie Thompson brought
the Victory crowd to life once more, but he was upstaged by Broxham.
The Victory utility latched onto Fahid Ben Khalfallah's
through-ball to claim a third goal and send the crowd into raptures.
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