A wonderful goal from Terry Antonis saw Melbourne Victory past Sydney FC 3-2 after extra time and into the Hyundai A-League Grand Final.
Summary
Antonis scored a stunning 117th-minute winner at Allianz Stadium on Saturday to send Victory into a record sixth decider.
The midfielder had earlier scored a dramatic own goal after Victory had taken the lead thanks to goals from Kosta Barbarouses and James Troisi.
Barbarouses’ goal had cancelled out a Stefan Nigro own goal in the first half with Antonis’ late heroics sending Victory into a decider against the Newcastle Jets.
In a blow before kick-off, defender Rhys Williams suffered a suspected calf injury and was withdrawn from the starting XI.
Rain made for a scrappy opening, but Victory had a glorious chance in the 20th minute through Barbarouses.
The winger was found by Leroy George before seeing his strike bounce off the post with Andrew Redmayne beaten.
Instead, the Sky Blues took the lead when an Adrian Mierzejewski set-piece bounced off Nigro and into the bottom corner.
But Victory found a deserved equaliser just after the half-hour mark through Barbarouses.
The New Zealand international was released down the left by a fine Antonis pass before cutting inside and seeing his effort deflect past Redmayne.
Lawrence Thomas was forced into saves by Jordy Buijs and Josh Brillante before the Victory goalkeeper made an excellent stop from Mierzejewski prior to the break.
Victory took the lead early in the second half thanks to a fine goal from Troisi.
Barbarouses played a pass to Besart Berisha, who slipped in Troisi for an easy finish with a fantastic through ball.
Sydney went close to an equaliser in the 63rd minute, but Thomas made a strong save to push away a long-range effort from Brillante.
Thomas made a spectacular one-handed save to push away a Bobo header in the 77th minute, before also denying David Carney.
George fired narrowly wide in the closing stages before Ben Warland struck the crossbar for Sydney and headed wide, but the Sky Blues equalised in the fifth minute of additional time, Antonis turning a cross into his own net.
Thomas made a fine save from Bobo early in extra time before Christian Theoharous went close for Victory.
Victory found a dramatic late winner, Antonis surging from inside his own half before finishing past Redmayne for an incredible goal.
Player in focus
Key moment
What they said – Antonis
on his goal…
“I can’t describe it. When all the Sydney fans were giving me crap, they just gave me more energy. To score that here, I can’t explain it.”
on the win…
“We had a game plan. All the boys stuck together. We were one team, everyone – the coaches, the staff – all the players on the pitch gave it their all to get to the finals.”
Result
Hyundai A-League 2017/18 Semi Final
Sydney FC 2 (Stefan Nigro og 24′, Terry Antonis og 90+5′)
Melbourne Victory 3 (Kosta Barbarouses 31′, James Troisi 47′, Terry Antonis 117′)
Sydney FC: Redmayne (gk), Wilkshire, Buijs (Warland 57′), Wilkinson, Zullo, Brillante (Carney 77′), O’Neill, Brosque (c) (Simon 69′), Mierzejewski, Bobo, Ninkovic
Melbourne Victory: Thomas (gk), Nigro, Donachie, Deng, Broxham, Valeri (c), Antonis, Troisi (Sanchez 75′), Barbarouses, Berisha (Athiu 82′), George (Theoharous 90+2′)
Yellow cards: Troisi 70′, Antonis 71′, Donachie 104′, Sanchez 116′, Simon 120′, Zullo 120+3′
Red cards: Nil
Attendance: TBC
Next up
Victory will face the Newcastle Jets in the Grand Final on Saturday, May 5.
