Melbourne Victory host Sydney FC in Sunday’s grand final as both sides look to equal the record for most A-League titles.
The Big Blue has provided us neutrals with plenty of excitement over the past decade and rest assured, more will occur this Sunday. Outside90’s Chris Matthews-Darby counts down the five biggest moments in one of the A-League’s greatest rivalries.
5. Victory come back from the dead, 27 December 2008
On its way to winning the 2008-09 double, Melbourne met Sydney in a post-Christmas battle. Sydney could not believe its luck as screamers from Shannon Cole and Brendan Gan put the 2006 champions 2-0 up inside four minutes. However, goals from Sydney’s arch-nemesis Archie Thompson and journeyman Nick Ward brought the game back to level pegging before Ney Fabiano turned in Danny Allsopp’s cross-goal header to give Melbourne a 3-2 win.
4. Sydney smashes hapless Victory, 26 January 2014
The two biggest Australian clubs met on Australia Day last year in what is the equal biggest victory in this fixture’s long history. Kevin Muscat’s job was under pressure after a 5-0 lost to Wellington the week before. Unfortunately for Melbourne, it suffered back-to-back 5-0 defeats. Ranko Despotovic opened the scoring after 11 minutes and former Victory defender Seb Ryall dribbled his way past their defence to add another soon after. World Cup winner Alessandro Del Piero scored a brace and Nick Carle rounded off the win with a late goal.
3. Andrew Nabbout steals the show, 10 November 2012
Not many people were familiar with Melbourne’s substitute striker Andrew Nabbout when Ange Postecoglou introduced him 68 minutes into a game where Sydney led 2-0. In the 78th minute, the former Moreland Zebras forward dribbled past Paul Reid before scoring a spectacular goal to reduce the deficit back to one goal. Thompson levelled the match with five minutes remaining before Nabbout scored his brace off a Gui Finkler corner to steal three points away from Victory’s interstate rivals.
2. Archie Thompson goes solo
Now-36-year-old Thompson has been tormenting A-League defences for 10 years now. He scored Melbourne’s first ever goal (against Sydney) and scored one of the A-League’s most memorable goals back in season one. In a 5-0 victory over Sydney, Thompson received the ball deep inside Sydney’s penalty box and was immediately surrounded by several defenders. With his back to goal, Thompson twisted and twirled his way past the Sky Blue defence before poking the ball past Clint Bolton.
1. Kevin Muscat misses penalty as Sydney wins grand final in Melbourne, 20 March 2010
The Big Blue was never as prominent as what it was in the 2009-10 season. The Sky Blues scored three goals in five minutes to defeat Victory 3-0 at Eithad Stadium early in the season and they defeated them 2-0 in the final game to steal the Premiers Plate from their Victorian rivals. An extra-time goal from Archie Thompson gave Victory a home grand final in the second leg of the semi-final but Sydney booked its place in the decider after defeating Wellington 4-2 in the preliminary final. The rivalry came to a conclusion in the grand final in front of over 44,000 fans at Eithad Stadium.
The final needed a penalty shoot-out to decide the winner after Adrian Leijer’s 81st minute header cancelled out Mark Bridge’s goal. Simon Colosimo slotted his to open Sydney’s account while Ernie Merrick sent captain Kevin Muscat to level the proceedings. Muscat had earned a reputation of always scoring from the penalty spot. That was until that night, where more than 44,000 fans stood completely silent as his shot rocketed off the post. Sydney went on to win the final.
What are your thoughts? Let us know by dropping a comment below via our Facebook comment box. Make sure you follow us on Twitter @Outside90 and like us on Facebook.
