Led by a bloodied Mathew Leckie, Melbourne City have out-scrapped fierce rivals Melbourne Victory to claim a 1-0 triumph in the A-League Men Grand Final and their second championship.

In the first ever Melbourne derby Grand Final, winger Yonatan Cohen handed City the lead in the 10th minute in front of a sellout, largely pro-Victory crowd at AAMI Park.

The crowd of 29,902 was a sporting record crowd at the venue.

Coach Aurelio Vidmar's surprise decision to play Leckie in defensive midfield paid off as the Socceroo turned in a commanding performance.

Leckie had his nose split open by an accidental boot from Zinédine Machach in the 49th minute but played on with a massive bandage around his face.

City's defence were superb as they condemned Victory to a second consecutive Grand Final defeat and extended their championship drought to seven years.

Victory's star winger Nishan Velupillay (ankle) failed to prove his fitness and City scored after skipper Aziz Behich nutmegged Josh Rawlins with a wonderful backheel to find Andreas Kuen.

The Austrian cut back the ball for Max Caputo, whose shot hit the bar before Israeli winger Cohen drove home the rebound.

In the 20th minute, Leckie desperately blocked Zinedine Machach's close-range shot.

Jack Duncan made a wonderful diving save to deny Leckie in the 23rd minute before Patrick Beach denied Machach up the other end.

A minute into the second half, Duncan made a terrific fingertip save to stop Cohen curling his second goal into the top corner.

Max Caputo and Cohen both spurned chances to make it 2-0 late, while Victory unsuccessfully appealed for a handball penalty off German Ferreyra in the 80th minute.

But Arthur Diles' charges couldn't find an equaliser.

Source:
courtesy of ESPN

by ESPN

If you have any stories or news that you would like to share with the global online community, please feel free to share it with us by contacting us directly at [email protected]