A 10-man Melbourne Victory played out a 1-1 draw with City in the Derby at Marvel Stadium on Saturday.
Summary
Victory played 75 minutes a man down after Georg Niedermeier was sent off in the final Derby of the regular season.
Jamie Maclaren converted the resultant spot-kick for City, only for Kosta Barbarouses’ second-half goal to earn Victory a point.
Victory had the majority of the early possession, but it was reduced to 10 men – and fell behind – in the 16th minute.
Niedermeier was shown a second yellow card after bringing down Maclaren in the area and the forward converted the penalty to give City the lead.
Victory looked to adjust with the man disadvantage, with James Donachie replacing Elvis Kamsoba immediately after the red card.
In what was an otherwise cagey first half, City went close just before the break, Rostyn Griffiths’ long-range drive hitting the post.
Victory made a lively start to the second half after a change in shape, with Ola Toivonen replacing James Troisi at the interval.
It was rewarded with a 50th-minute equaliser through Barbarouses, who scored his 11th goal of the season.
Keisuke Honda played the forward in down the right and Barbarouses beat City goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic at his near post.
City went close again just after the hour-mark, Luke Brattan’s effort from distance bouncing off the crossbar.
Victory held out for the remainder of the game, sealing a hard-earned point in the Derby.
Player in focus
Key moment
What they said – Thomas Deng
on the result…
“I think we’re pretty satisfied. We started the game pretty well. Unfortunately, we lost Georg, which was a big loss for us, but the boys dug deep and gave it their all.”
on Niedermeier’s red card…
“It is what it is. At the end of the day, if the referee makes the decision we’ve got to abide by it so all we can do is move on and that’s what we did and the boys did really well.”
on the finish…
“The instructions from the boss were to stay compact, force them wide and try stay solid at the back and try force them back and I think the boys did tremendously, a good job and I’m pretty happy.”
Result
Hyundai A-League 2018/19 Round 20
Melbourne Victory 1 (Kosta Barbarouses 50′)
City 1 (Jamie Maclaren 16′ pen)
Melbourne Victory: Thomas (gk); Broxham (c), Deng, Niedermeier, Brown; Baena; Honda (Roux 77′), Troisi (Toivonen 45′), Antonis; Barbarouses, Kamsoba (Donachie 17′).
City: Galekovic (gk); De Laet, Schenkeveld, Good, Jamieson (c); Berenguer (McGree 76′), Griffiths, Baccus (Vidosic 79′), Brattan; Harrison (Wales 69′), Maclaren.
Yellow cards: Niedermeier 13’/15′, Honda 21′, Brattan 42′, Baena 42′, De Laet 46′, Berenguer 70′, Brown 81′, Thomas 89′, Schenkeveld 90+2′
Red cards: Niedermeier 15′
Attendance: 32,431
Venue: Marvel Stadium
Next up
Victory takes on the Newcastle Jets at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday, March 2.
