SYDNEY (AP) — Australia defender Rhyan Grant chested home Luke Brattan’s perfectly weighted chip in the 100th minute to give Sydney FC back-to-back grand final wins and its fifth A-League championship.
The game at Western Sydney Stadium went to extra time on Sunday with scores level at 0-0 after 90 minutes.
The first half was marked by two controversial video decisions, with Melbourne City’s Harrison Delbridge’s 18th-minute goal ruled out following a VAR review and Sydney’s Adam Le Fondre denied a penalty in the 28th.
Grant received the Joe Marston Medal as player of the match.
“It was nice, maybe a little bit lucky with it but I thought I’d put the ’keeper off with the chest rather than the head and it looked like it worked — so happy days,” Grant told Fox Sports television.
City started quickly and Delbridge looked to have handed them the lead. Craig Noone’s skidding ball through the 18-yard box spilled out to Delbridge, whose powerful strike took a deflection and beat Andrew Redmayne.
But following a VAR review, referee Chris Beath ruled an offside Lachie Wales had obstructed Redmayne’s view and overturned the goal.
Le Fondre went to ground under heavy contact from Curtis Good in the 28th minute and screamed for a penalty but his pleas went unheard.
The second half was largely an exhibition of strong goalkeeping from City’s Tom Glover and Sydney’s Redmayne. Glover’s reflex save denied Milos Ninkovic in the 62nd minute, while in the 77th minute, Redmayne blocked City substitute Scott Galloway’s dipping shot.
In the 89th minute Glover, who was superb all night, ensured the game went beyond regular time. Le Fondre sent a cross in towards a diving Trent Buhagiar, with Glover able to scramble the ball to safety.
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